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THE TAPPAN-KENDALL HISTORIES 



AN 



ELEMENTARY HISTORY 
OF OUR COUNTRY 



BY 



EVA MARCH TAPPAN, Ph.D. 

Author of" England'' s Story,'''' " American Hero Stories,'''' "Old World 

Hero Stories,'''' " Story of the Greek People,'''' " Story of the Roman 

People,"' "Our European Ancestors,'''' etc. 




HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO 

STfte il^ibersiiiE ^tess Camfaribge 



THE TAPPAN-KENDALL SERIES 

OF ELEMENTARY HISTORIES 

BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN, Ph.D. 

AND CALVIN NOYES KENDALL, LL.D. 



American Hero Stories, Grades IV-V 
by E-va March Tappan. 

Elementary History of Our Country 

Grades V-VI 

by E-va March Tappan. 

Our European Ancestors, Grades VI— VII 
by E-va March Tappan. 

History of the United States 

Grades VII-VIII 

by Reuben Gold Thivaites 

and Calvin Noyes Kendall. 



.1 

;ris 



COPYRIGHT, 1922 

BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN 
COPYRIGHT, 1902, I914, BY EVA MARCH TAPPAN 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



Twenty-Eighth Impression, January, ig22 



tKlje aRitoersiliE 3^xtsi 

CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS 
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. 



JUL 27 72 



©CI.A677663 



L 



PREFACE 

This book aims not at telling stories about the United States, 
but at giving a short, simple, connected account of our country 
from its discovery to the present day. Mindful of the pleasure 
that children take in kno\ving " why," and of their unfailing in- 
terest in biography, I have tried, as far as the limits of the book 
would permit, to note reasons as well as deeds ; and, while avoid- 
ing everything of the nature of a biographical sketch, I have 
sought to arouse and encourage a feeling of friendly familiarity 
with the heroes of our nation. 

Though an introductory history must necessarily be limited in 
size, it is believed that there can be gained from this volume a 
definite knowledge of the main events in the history of our land, 
some idea of the causes of those events, and an acquaintance, 
sympathetic though slight, with the men who stood behind the 
events ; and that the book will thus serve as an introduction to 
a later and more extended study of the growth and development 
of our country. 

Acknowledgment is due to General James Grant Wilson, the 
Lenox Library, Messrs. S. P. Avery, Jr., Walter Bailey Elhs, 
George A. Clough, Grover Flint, Charles Scribner's Sons, and The 
Century Company, for permission to reproduce a number of illus- 
trations in this book. 

EVA MARCH TAPPAN. 



The cover designs represent : on the front cover, Columbus's flagship, the Santa 
Maria; on the back cover, Dewey's flagship, the Olympia ; and on the shelf edge of 
the book, the Indian corn-plant. 



CONTENTS 



Important Dates in American History 
Presidents of the United States 
Declaration of Independence 



I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VIL 

VIII. 

IX. 
X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

xxni. 

XXIV. 



Columbus shows the Way to America . , ' . 

The Early Followers of Columbus 

The Early Attempts to make Settlements 

The Indians and their Ways 

Virginia, the First Permanent English Colony . 
Plymouth, the First Colony in New England . 
The Massachusetts Bay Colony ..... 
Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecti 

cut 

Early Customs of New England 

New York, Delaware, and New Jersey 

Pennsylvania and Maryland . 

The Carolinas and Georgia 

The French Explorations in America . 

The Struggle with the French . 

The Times before the Revolution . 

The First Two Years of the Revolution 

The Latter Part of the Revolution 

The Years of Weakness .... 

The Westward Growth of the Country 

Trouble arises over Slavery 

The Civil War 

The Latter Years of the Century . 
The United States as a World Power 
Our Country To-day 



Vll 

ix 

X 

1 

13 
24 
34 
42 
52 
61 

70 
83 
88 
99 
109 
114 
119 
129 
141 
154 
168 
183 
197 
208 
229 
241 
254 



Index and Pronounclng Vocabulary 



IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

1492 Columbus discovers America. 

1497 First voyage of Cabot to America. 

1497 Vespucius sails to America. 

1513 Ponce de Leon visits Florida. 

1522 Magellan's ships sail around the world. 

1634 Cartier explores the St. Lawrence. 

1542 De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 

1565 First town in the United States founded at St. Augustine. 

1607 Virginia, the first English colony in America, settled at James- 

town. 

1608 Champlain founds Quebec. 

1609 Hudson explores the Hudson River. 

1614 New York first settled on Manhattan Island. 

1617 New Jersey first settled at Bergen. 

1619 First legislative assembly in America. 

1619 Negro slavery introduced into America. 

1620 Massachusetts first settled at Plymouth. 
1623 New Hampshire first settled at Dover. 
1625 Maine first settled at Pemaquid Point. 
1630 Boston founded. 

1634 Maryland first settled at St. Mary's. 

1636 Rhode Island first settled at Providence. 

1636 Connecticut first settled at Hartford. 

1638 Pequot War. 

1638 Delaware first settled at Wilmington. 

1663 North Carolina first settled near Albemarle Sound. 

1670 South Carolina first settled near Charleston. 

1673 Marquette and Joliet explore the Mississippi. 



IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

1675 King Philip's War. 

1682 La Salle explores the Mississippi, 

1682 Pennsylvania first settled at Philadelphia. 

1690 Witchcraft excitement in Massachusetts. 

1733 Georgia first settled at Savannah. 

1745 Capture of Louisburg. 

1759 Capture of Quebec and end of French power in America. 

1765 The Stamp Act. 

1773 The Boston Tea-party. 

1774 First Continental Congress, 

1775 April 19. Battle of Lexington and beginning of the Revolution. 

1775 June 17. Battle of Bunker Hill. 

1776 July 4. Declaration of Independence. 
1778 Clark saves the Northwest. 

1781 Surrender of Cornwallis and close of the Revolutioa 

1787 Framing of the Constitution. 

1789 ^^'ashington becomes first president. 

1793 Invention of the cotton-gin. 

1803 The Louisiana Purchase, 

1804 Suppression of the Barbary pirates. 
1812-1815 War with England. 

1820 Missouri Compromise, 

1825 Opening of the Erie Canal. 

1844 Invention of the telegraph. 

1846 War with JNIexico. 

1846 Settlement of the Oregon boundary. 

1848 Mexican cession. 

1848 Discovery of gold in California. 

1850 Compromise of 18.30. 

1861 Capture of Fort Sumter and beginning of Civil War. 

1862 Battle between IMonitor and Merrimac. 

1863 Emancipation Proclamation. 
1863 Battle of Gettysburg, 

1865 Surrender of Lee and close of Civil War. 

1866 The Atlantic cable laid. 



IMPORTANT DATES IN AMERICAN HISTORY 

1867 Purchase of Alaska. 

1869 Completion of the Union Pacific Railroad. 

1876 Centennial Exposition. 

1893 Columbian Exposition. 

1898 War with Spain. 

1898 Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands. 

1899 Annexation of Porto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines 
1912 Arbitration treaties with Great Britain and France. 
1914 Panama Canal opened to commerce. 

1917 The United States entered the World War. 

1921 Washington Conference for limitation of naval armaments. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES 



George Washington . . 1789-1797 

John Adams .... 1797-1801 

Thomas Jefferson . . 1801-1809 

James Madison . , . 1809-1817 

James Monroe > . . 1817-1825 

John Quincy Adams 1825-1829 

Andrew Jackson . . . 1829-1837 

Martin Van Buren . . 1837-1841 

William Henry Harrison 1841 

John Tyler . . , . . 1841-1845 

James K. Polk .... 1845-1849 

Zachary Taylor . ^ . 1849-1850 

Millard Fillmore . . . 1850-1853 
William H. Taft 
Woodrow Wilson 



Franklin Pierce . , . 1853-1857 

James Buchanan 1857-1861 

Abraham Lincoln . . . 1861-1865 

Andi-ew Johnson . , . 1865-1869 

Ulysses S. Grant . . . 1869-1877 

Rutherford B. Hayes 1877-1881 

James A. Garfield . , 1881 

Chester A. Arthur . 1881-1885 

Grover Cleveland . . 1885-1889 

Benjamin Harrison . . 1889-1893 

Grover Cleveland . . . 1893-1897 

William McKinley . . 1897-1901 

Theodore Roosevelt . . 1901-1909 

o . . 1909-1913 

. . . 1913-1921 



Warren G. Harding 



1921- 



July 4, 1776 

A DECLARATION 

By the REPRESENTATIVES of the 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

In general congress Assembled 

WHEN, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have 
connected them with another, and to assume, among the 
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the 
laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unal- 
ienable rights ; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are insti- 
tuted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of 
the governed; that, whenever any form of government becomes 
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to 
abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation 
on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to 
them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established, 
should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accord- 
ingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed 
to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by 
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when 
a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute des- 
potism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such govern- 
ment, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such 
has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now 
the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems 
of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain 
is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct 
object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. 
To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : — 



The Declaration of Independence 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and 
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his 
assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly 
neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the 
right of representation in tlie legislature : a right inestimable to 
them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, un- 
comfortable, and distant from the depository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance 
with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, 
with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; 
the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the danger of 
invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; 
for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreign- 
ers, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, 
and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his 
assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing armies, with- 
out the consent of our legislatures. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and 
superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 

For protecting them by a mock trial, from punishment, for any 
murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: 



The Declaration of Independence 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of tlie benefit of trial by jury: 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarg- 
ing its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and lit 
instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these 
colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our govern- 
ments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves 
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his 
protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, 
and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign merce- 
naries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, 
already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely 
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners 
of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has en- 
deavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless 
Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 
destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for 
redress, in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character 
is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit 
to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. 
We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts made by 
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. 
We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration 
and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice 
and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the ties of our 
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would 
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. Thej, 



The Declaration of Independence 

too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We 
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our 
separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, ene- 
mies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of Amer- 
ica, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme 
Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the 
name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, 
solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and 
of right ought to be, free and independent states : that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all 
political connection between them and the state of Great Britain 
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and that, as free and inde- 
pendent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and 
things which independent states may of right do. And, for the 
support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection 
of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, 
our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

John Hancock, President 

New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton. 

Massachusetts JSa^. —^ Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island. — Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, 
Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. — William Floyd, Philip Livingstone, Francis Lewis, Lewis 
Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, .John 
Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, 
George Ross. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas M'Kean. 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Car- 
roll of Carrollton. 

Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Ben- 
jamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hopper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas 
Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 
I 

COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY TO AMERICA 



If a group of schoolboys had been talking about their geo- 
graphy lessons four hundred years ago, one would perhaps have 
said : — 

" Our teacher tells us that the world is flat. The land is in the Early ideas 
centre, the ocean flows all around, and if any one should saU to ° worw 
the edge of the world, he would fall off." 

Then another boy would have said : — 

*' Our teacher told us that many learned men believe the earth 
is round ; and he says a few of them think that if a ship should 
go through the Straits 
of Gibraltar and sail 
west across the Atlan- 
tic Ocean far enough, it 
would come to India." 

"But no ship could 
ever do that," another 
boy would have ob- 
jected. " The Atlantic 
Ocean is the Sea of 
Darkness, and every- 
body knows that the farther you go from the land, the darker it The Sea of 
becomes. There are thick, black fogs. In one place the sun is ^^'"^"^^^ 
80 hot that the water boils, and it might be hot enough to burn 




DANGERS OF THE SEA OF DARKNESS 
(From a sixteenth century illustration) 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




A NORWEGIAN SHTP 



Trade with 
Asia 



the ship. The waves are as high as mountains, and there 

are mermaids and horrible demons. A monstroua 

bird flies over tlie water, strong enough to carry 

off a great ship and all the sailors ; and worse 

than that, Satan sometimes stretches up a 

great black hand as big as a cliff and draws 

a ship down under the sea." 

These stories of the dangers of the ocean 
were not fairy-tales told to amuse children ; 
they were what most men really believed. 
It is no wonder, then, that when the 
people of Genoa in Italy were asked 
to furnish funds for sending a ship 
i;- across the Atlantic to India, they 

looked upon the plan as a wild and 
hopeless scheme. It is probable that five 
hundred years before this tune some hardy marmers of Norway 
and Sweden sailed south from the settlement that they had made 
in Greenland, and even tried to found a colony in Massachusetts; 
but there is little reason to think that any one in Italy knew 
of their voyages. 

It was one of the citizens of Genoa who had asked for this 
money, a man named Christopher Columbus. He was born in 
Genoa, and all through his boyhood he had seen ships coming 
into the harbor and unloading rich cargoes of spices, pearls, per^ 
fumes, silks, ivory, and fine Cashmere shawls. These luxuries 
were brought from eastern Asia, or the Indies, as people then 
called that country. The journey was long and hard, for the 
goods had to be taken on the backs of camels across great tracts 
of land to the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Then they were 
put on board ships and carried past Constantinople and over the 
Mediterranean to Genoa. 



COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 



trade failed 




CAKAVAN TRAVEL IN ASIA 



Columbus went to sea when he was fourteen, and three or four 
years, later there were few rich cargoes from the Indies unloaded Why this 
at the wharves of Genoa, The reason was that the Greeks had 
lost Constantinople to the Turks, and the Turks would not allow 
the Genoese vessels to 
pass through the Bos 
phorus. 

Columbus did not 
believe half the 
stories that were 
told about the 
dangers of the 
Sea of Darl^ness, 
and he reasoned : 
"If the earth is 
round, we can sail across the Atlantic to the very coast of Asia, Columbus's 

T>po cnn in? 

and that would be a much easier journey than to go by the Black ^ 

Sea." He thought that it would be an exceedingly short way, 
for even the learned men who believed that the world 
was round thought it only half as large as it really 
is. He had studied and read and thought, and he 
felt sure that he was right. 

Only a rich city or a king could provide money 
for such an expedition. Genoa had refused, but 
Portugal had long been interested in finding an 
easier way to India, and therefore Columbus went 
to see the king of Portugal. The royal advisers 
called the plan a foolish notion, but the king was 
half convinced that Columbus was in the right, 
and he said : " My advisers do not believe that 

your plan is possible, but I should like to borrow your maps and 

look into the matter for myself." 




COLUMBUS'S 

ARMOR 
(How In Madrid) 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The maps were lent most willingly, for Columbus thought that 

The king of at last he had found a friend. After a while a ship sailed in from 

Portugal ,, J. 1 •. 1 1 , 

deceives ^^^ west, and it became known that to make sure of the glory and 

Columbus gain for himself the king had sent out a vessel secretly. It went 



Columbus 
goes to 
Spain 




THE MAP COLUMBUS USED 

but a httle way, however, because the captain was afraid of the 
high waves of the Atlantic. 

Columbus was so angry at this trickery that he took his Uttle 
son Diego and went to Spain. King Ferdinand and Queen Isa- 
beUa were on the Spanish throne, and to them Columbus appealed. 
Ferdinand called a council of wise men and asked them to decide 
whether these new ideas were reasonable or not. Now that so 
much more is known about the earth, some of the arguments 
brought forward by these learned councilors seem so foolish that 
it is hard to believe they were really in earnest. One asked : 
" How can there be people on the other side of the earth ? Do 
they hang on by their feet ? Do the trees grow down and does 
the rain fall up ? " Another was willing to admit that tlie world 
was round. " But if you should go to the other side," said he, 
" how could you ever sail up hill and return ? " 

For several years Columbus waited. Spain was at war, and all 
the king would say was that he would consider the matter later. 



COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 



People laughed at the wild dream of this persistent stranger. Delay and 
The children in the streets pointed their fingers at him and whis- ment"'^^^^" 
pered, " Look ! there 's the crazy man who thinks he can cross the 
Sea of Darkness ! " Columbus had some reason to hope for aid 
from France, and he had sent his brother to England to ask for 
help. He determined to leave Spain. 

One morning a man with gray hair and keen blue eyes stood 
before the convent of La Rabida near Palos and asked for food Columbus at 
for his little son. The prior of this convent was a learned man who ^ ^ ' ^ 
was especially interested in geography. He noticed the stranger 
at the gate and began to talk with him. When he found what a 
wonderful plan he had in mind — for the stranger was Columbus 
himself — the prior wrote to Queen Isabella and pleaded for her 
aid. He told her what glory such a discovery would bring to 
Spain and how much wealth would pour in from the trade with 
the Indies. She became greatly interested, but a diflQculty arose. 




THE REAL POSITION OF THE CONTINENTS 

Columbus demanded the title of admiral, the right to rule over 
the lands that he should discover, and one tenth of all gains that 
might be made. 

The Spanish courtiers were jealous that an unknown man, a 
foreigner, should dream of having so much power; and although Jealousy of 



he was ready to risk his life, one of them said to him sneeringly : 



the courtiers 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



" You have nothing to lose if you fail, and you make sure of youi 
title, whether you accomplish anything or not. You 're a shrewd 
man." 

Columbus was not selfish, but he felt that he had a right to 

Isabella aids share in whatever gain might come from his years of study and 

thought. Moreover, he needed a large sum of money to carry out 





„ J 



CONVENT OF LA RABIDA 
(The part Columbus knew is to the right) 

a plan of his for rescuing from the Turks, who ruled in the Holy 
Land, the tomb in which Christ was said to have been buried, and 
he declared that he would rather seek for the aid of France than 
yield a single point. The enthusiasm of Queen Isabella was 
aroused. " I will undertake the enterprise for my own crown of 
Castile," she declared, " and I will pledge my jewels to raise the 
necessary funds." 

Then there was a bustle of preparation. For some misdemeanor 

Preparations the town of Palos had been required to provide two ships, well 

manned and armed, to serve the king for one year. The order 

was given that these two ships should be at Columbus's disposal. 

The sailors of the town were terrified at the thought of such a 



for the 
voyage 



COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 



journey. Some hid themselves, and others ran away. At last 
two brothers, wealthy shipowners, offered to go on the fearful 
voyage, and also to furnish one vessel. 

After this some sailors volunteered, others were forced to go, 
and one morning in August the three small vessels, the Pinta, Columbus 
the Niiia, and the Santa Maria, set out from Palos to cross the 
unknown ocean. The rudder of the Pinta broke, and a visit had 
to be made to the Canary Islands to repair it. Then word came 
that three Portuguese vessels 
had been seen off the coast 
waiting to capture Columbus. 
That matter was easily ar- 
ranged, for he slipped past them 
directly out into the open ocean, 
knowing well that no Portu- 
guese ships would dare to fol- 
low into the Sea of Darkness. 

The farther they went, the 
more frightened became tlie 
Spanish sailors. They wept 
and lamented, saying that never 
again should they see their 
homes and their friends. Every- 
thing alarmed them. The mast 
of a vessel floated by, and this 
they took as a sure sign that 
they would be wrecked. They 
saw a meteor, and they were 

certain that it was a bad omen. The wind blew steadily from the 
east, and the discouraged mariners wondered how they could ever 
make their way home. They found themselves in the midst of 
the great masses of seaweed that we call the Sargasso Sea, and 




The fears of 
the sailors 



QUEEN ISABELLA 
(After a picture in Madrid) 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




THE SANTA MAKIA 
(Columbus's own ship) 



then the sailors talked about quicksands and the dangers of run- 
ning aground. The needle of the compass no longer pointed 
directly to the north star. That was worst of all, for 
they thought they had lost their way. They were 
so angry with the admiral that they even 
planned to throw him overboard. 

Columbus was very patient with them. He 
sounded many times to convince them that 
there was plenty of water below the weeds 
it the Sargasso Sea. He made up the best 
explanation that he could of the needle's 
failure to point to the north star, and he 
fc told them of the wonderful countries that 
they would soon see, the home of spices and 
perfumes, of gold and jewels. He told them 
how much land they would own and what 
great lords they would become, and so day after day he led 
them on. 

Flocks of birds began to fly past, nearly all going to the south- 
west, and the course of the ships was changed to fol- 
low their flight, in the hope that they were going to 
Signs of land the land. Fresh- water weeds were seen and a 
branch of thorn with berries on it. At last a 
piece of wood was picked up that some one 
had carved. Then the sailors were almost as 
eager as their leader to find the unknown 
country, and one after another began to de- 
clare that he could see land, and to claim the 
reward promised by Ferdinand and Isabella "^^ early compass 
to him who should first discover the farther shore. Columbus 
increased the reward by the offer of a velvet doublet, but there 
were so many of these false alarms that he declared no man 




COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 



9 



who shouted " Land ! " should receive the reward unless land was 
discovered within three days after the time when it had been 
announced. 

It seems only right that the great discovery should have been 
made by the admiral himself, and so it was, for one evening as he Land at last 
stood gazing into the west, he was sure that he saw a light that 




COLUMBUS'S ROUTE 
(From Winsor's Columbus) 

moved up and down as if some one was carrying a torch in his 
hand. Early the next morning, October 12, 1492, the land was 
in full view. Columbus put on his rich scarlet robes, took the 
royal banner in his hand, and was rowed to the shore. What a 
shore it was! The water was clear as crystal, the sand was 
dazzlingly white, there were strange trees and fruits, unknown 
flowers, birds of most brilliant plumage, and, strangest of all, 
great numbers of copper-colored natives, who at first hid behind 
trees, but soon gathered around the Spaniards, gazing with rev- 
erent curiosity upon their white skins, their steel armor, their 
guttering weapons, and especially upon the admiral in his scarlet 
dress. 

The Spaniards knelt down and kissed the ground. They rose 
and chanted the Te Deum. Then Columbus unfurled his banner Landing of 
and formally claimed the land for Spain. He named the island 
San Salvador, or Holy Saviour. It was one of the Bahamas, no 
OB-e knows which one, but many think that it was the one now 



Columbus 



10 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




THE LANDING OF COLU-ML'.rs 
(From Vanderlyn's painting in the Capitol at Washington) 



The return 
to Spain 



known as Watling's Island. The natives he called Indians, be- 
cause he supposed that he was on the coast of India, He asked 
the Indians where Cipango, or Japan, was, and they pointed to 
the south, for they thought that he meant some mountains with 
nearly the same name. They told him of "" great water " to the 
westward, and he supposed they meant the Indian Ocean. 

The Indians had a tradition that some day white men would 
come down from the skies to visit them. They were overjoyed 
that the heavenly visitors, whom they thought the Spaniards to 
be, had come in their time, and when Columbus asked some of 
them to go to Spain with him, they were deUghted. Such a recep- 
tion as the successful voyager had when he returned to Spain! 
There was a triumphal procession with soldiers and music and 
banners and gorgeous robes to escort Columbus to the king and 



COLUMBUS SHOWS THE WAY 



11 



queen. He knelt before them, but Isabella begged him to rise 
and seat himself — a rare honor in the Spanish court — and tell 
them all about his voyage and his discoveries. What a wonderful 
tale it must have been ! 

There is a story that at a dinner in honor of Columbus not long 
after this reception a jealous courtier asked him : — 

" If you had not sailed to the Indies, don't you suppose there 
are other men in Spain who would have made the voyage ? " 

Instead of answering, Columbus held up an egg and asked if Columbus 
any one present could make it stand on end. No one succeeded, ^^v*^ *^^ 
until he took the egg, broke the end slightly, and in that way was 
able to make it stand. 

*' Any one could do that," muttered the envious courtier. 

" Yes," said the admiral quietly, " after I have shown the way." 

That was the work of Columbus, to " show the way." He made 
three other voyages, visiting more of the Bahama 
Islands and the West Indies, and sailing along 
Central America, Panama, and the northern coast 
of South America. He tried to govern a colony 
of turbulent Spaniards in the New World, but 
he failed, and his enemies reported such mali- 
cious stories of him that a new governor was 
appointed for the colony. He put the great admi- 
ral in chains and sent him back to Spain. The 
captain of the vessel would gladly have removed 
the fetters, but Columbus said : " No, the rulers 
of Spain have put chains upon me, and they alone 
shall take them off. So long as I hve I will keep 
these chains, and they shall be buried with me." 

Ferdinand and Isabella were indignant at such 
treatment of so great a man, and there was no 
delay in striking off the chains. Yet sovereigns 




SOUTH AMERICAN 
INDIAN, M9r 

(From the earliest 
pictore) 



12 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



and kingdom were alike disappointed. Columbus had crossed the 
ocean, but he had discovered no gold ; and although he was so 
sure that the islands were off the coast of India 
that he called them the Indies, no great oriental 
cities had been found, and there seemed no reason 
to expect any great wealth to come from the new 
lands. He fell into loneliness and suffering. The 
queen died, and he was friendless. Again the chil- 
dren in the streets pointed their fingers at him, the 
" admiral of the lands of deceit and disappoint- 
ment," as they called him. He died neglected and 
forgotten. Seven years after his death, King Fer- 
dinand built him a handsome tomb, but it would 
have been better to have treated him kindly v/hen 
he was alive. 

Columbus was a great man, neither because he 

was the first to sail across an unknown sea, nor 

because he thought the world was round, for a 

Why Colum- wise man named Aristotle believed that eighteen hundred years 

firear^^ before Columbus's time ; he was great because he knew what was 

true, and was ready to risk his life for truth's sake. 




COLIUMBUS 

(From the statue in Fairmount 

Park, Philadelphia) 



SUMMARY. 

Four hundred years ago most people thought the Atlantic could not be 
crossed. 

New difficulties in getting goods from the Indies made Europeans wish to 
find a shorter route to Eastern Asia. 

Columbus believed that ships could reach Asia by sailing west. 

In vain he appealed for aid to Genoa and to Portugal. Finally, Queen Isa- 
bella became interested in his plan, and by the aid of Spain he set out 
on the voyage. 

October 12, 1492, he landed on one of the Bahamas, but because he thought 
he was off the coast of India, he named the islands the West Indies. 



EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 13 

Spain was disappointed that he found neither gold nor cities. Columbus 
died not knowing that he had discovered a new continent. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Describe Columbus and Diego at the gate of La Rabida. 

Give the conversation between Columbus and the prior. 

What would a frightened sailor have said to Columbus to try to persuade 

him to return ? 
What would Columbus have answered ? 



II 

THE EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 

Now that Columbus had shown the way, others were ready to Voyages of 
follow, and within fifty years Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, ^ ^ ° ^ 
Englishmen, and Frenchmen visited different 
parts of the land across the sea. 

An Italian merchant named John 
Cabot was living in England when 
Columbus made his first voyage. He 
was eager to cross the ocean, for he 
longed, as he tells us, "to attempt 
some notable thing." The English 
king was much interested, but he 
did not care to spend the neces- 
sary money. Moreover, he was 
trying to arrange a marriage 
between his ten-year-old son and 
the little daughter of Ferdinand ^_^_^^ 
and Isabella, and the Spanish am- 
bassador told him there would be English ship of^he sixtmnth ckutury 




14 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



North 

America 
discovered 




CABOT DESCRIBING HIS VOYAGE TO THE ENGLISH KINO 

(From an old engraving) 

trouble with Spain if he should send out explorers. After a while, 
however, he gave John Cabot the royal permission to cross the 
ocean on condition that he received one fifth of the profits of the 
enterprise. In 1497, just before Columbus went on his third voy- 
age, John Cabot set sail. He is thought to have steered almost 
directly west and to have been the first European to have a 
glimpse of North America, though whether he sighted land first at 
Labrador, at Newfoundland, or at Cape Breton, no one can tell. 

When he came home he was received in England with as much 
rejoicing as Spain had made over Columbus. An Italian who was 
living in England wrote to his friends in Italy, "Honors are 
heaped upon Cabot, he is called Grand Admiral, he is dressed in 
silk, and the English run after him like mad men." 



EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 



15 



The next year Cabot and his son made another voyage and 
cruised along the coast perhaps as far as South Carolina. These 
explorations were interesting, but no cities were found and no 
new opportunities for trade opened, England was disappointed, 
and sent out no more expeditions for nearly eighty years. 

The land across the sea was not forgotten, however. Another 
ItaUan named Americus Vespucius sailed as a pilot, first in the Why our 
service of Spain and then in that of Portugal. " What a thing nameZ '^ 
it is to seek unknown lands ! " he said. He followed down the America 
eastern coast of South 
America, and flnaUy 
went a long way east 
of Cape Horn. When 
he came home and told 
where he had been, 
there was much ex- 
citement. More than 
fifteen hundred years 
before this time a Span- 
ish geographer had 
taught that south of 
Asia and Africa was a 
great body of land. 
People thought that 

Columbus had found India, and now that Vespucius had discov- 
ered a wide extent of country so far south of where Columbus had 
been, they thought it must be this southern continent which no one 
had visited, though most people believed it existed. In a little 
book on geography written soon after Vespucius's voyage it was 
suggested that this land should be named for him. That is why 
our country is named America ; but Columbus is not forgotten, 
for in our songs it is almost always called Columbia. 




THE IDEA OF A SOUTHERK CONTINENT 
BEFORE VESPUCIUS'S TIME 



16 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Ponce de 

Leon seeks 
the Fountain 
of Youth 




Florida 



Twelve years after the voyage of Vespucius, there was another 
expedition, the story of which seems like a fairy-tale. It was led 
by a wealthy Spanish nobleman named Ponce de Leon, who had 
been with Columbus on one of his voyages. His 
hair was growing white, and he longed to be a 
young man again. There was an old story that 
somewhere in Asia was a magical fountain whose 
waters would make an old man young. So many 
things were new and strange and mysterious in 
those days that this seemed no more impossible 
than anything else ; and when De Leon heard Spanish helmet 
that the Indians declared there was such a fountain in their 
land, he could not rest till he had tried to find it. 

He had been living in Porto Rico as governor, and therefore the 
Discovery of voyage to the mainland was a short one. He landed on the coast 
of Florida on Easter Sunday, and as the Spanish word for Easter 
is "Pascua Florida," or Flowery Easter, he gave the name of 
Florida to the new land. It was a beautiful country, full of bright 
green trees, and flowers of many colors. There were rivers and 
lakes and springs. " Surely among all these," thought De Leon, 
"we shall find the Fountain of Youth." However, though he 
drank the water now of one and now of another, and hoped 
at each draught that he would feel himself becoming stronger 
and younger, nowhere did he find the magical fountain. Instead 
of growing young in Florida, it was there that he met 
his death, for the Spaniards had treated 
the Indians so badly that they hated the 
white people whose coming with Columbus 
had been so welcome, and on De Leon's 
second visit he died by an Indian arrow. 

The year 1519 had come. Many different voyagers had sailed 
to America. They had landed on islands, or had explored the 




PISTOL OF 
DE LEON'S TIME 



EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 



17 



coast for a little way, but few realized that a vast new continent 

lay west of the Atlantic. Most people thought all this expanse of 

land was connected with southeastern Asia, and that to the west 

of it lay the cities with which Europe had traded. They hoped 

there was some passage through this land which would give them 

a short route to India. One man who was especially interested Magellan's 

in this idea was a Portuguese named Magellan. He was a warm- pa^ssaee^o 

hearted man, and it is quite possible that one reason why he India 

wished to cross the seas was because a dear friend of his was m 

the eastern Indies. 

The king of Portugal refused to have anything to do with the 
expedition. Then Magellan asked, " Have I your 
majesty's permission to offer my services to soi 
other monarch?" The king replied shortly, 
as you please," and would not allow Magellan 
kiss his hand at parting. 

Magellan did not wish to give up the 
voyage, and he saUed in the service of 
Spain, though Spain and Portugal were 
not on the best of terms. He had five 
ships, and the brother of his friend was 
captain of one of them. He went to the 
eastern coast of South America, and when 
he came to the La Plata River, he felt al- 
most sure that this was the passage that 
every one was hoping to find. He explored 
the stream for three hundred miles, but it 
grew narrower and the water grew fresher. There was nothing He sails in 
to do but to go back to the coast and try to find some other pas- of Vp^airi'^* 
sage. He sailed to the south, keeping near the shore. There 
were fearful storms that strained and weakened the ships, no 
one knew what dangers were before them, and they were short 




MAGELLAN 



18 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



He enters 
the Pacific 
Ocean 



Across the 
Pacific 



of food. " Let us go home," pleaded the sailors. " Our ships are 
weak, and we shall either be wrecked or else die of starvation." 
" Never," answered the commander, " I will go on if I have to eat 
the leather from the ship's yards." 

On he went. The sailors rebelled. " He is only a foreigner," 
said they, " and what better service could he render to the kuig of 
Portugal than to lead a company of Spaniards to certain death ? " 
They even seized some of the ships, but Magellan found a way to 




ROUTE OF MAGELLAN'S SmPS 

suppress the mutiny, and sailed on until he came to the strait 
that bears his name. Through the strait he went, and behold, 
a wide ocean stretched out before him ! This ocean seemed so 
calm and peaceful after all the storms that he had been through 
that he named it the Pacific. It is said that when he saw the 
quiet water, he was "so glad thereof that for joy the tears fell 
from his eyes." 

The sailors were in despair, but it would do no good to rebel, 
for they were so far from Spain that there was not nearly enough 
food to last for a return voyage. The only course was to press on 
in the hope that aid would be found somewhere in the wide ocean. 
It was long before the help came, and they suffered so severely 
from hunger that they actually did eat "the pieces of leather 



EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 



Id 




First voyage 
around the 
world 



NATIVES OF MAGELLAN'S STRAITS 



which were folded about certam great ropes of the ship." At last 
they came to a group of islands where they could indeed buy 
some food, but the natives 
proved to be so dishonest that 
the Spaniards called them 
"Ladrones," or thieves, and 
the name has clung to the 
whole group of islands. 

Soon Magellan reached the 
Philippines, and there he was 
killed in a fight with the na- 
tives, but not before he had 
met ships coming from the 
west, and knew that his ves- 
sels could make the rest of the 
journey home through well-known waters. One of them did 
this, and in 1522 the first voyage around the world was com- 
pleted. 

The name, New World, had often been used, but until this voy- 
age of Magellan's was made, few thought that this New World The New 
was a great double continent. Some supposed that what we call °^ 
North America was probably a group of islands, and that some- 
where among these islands there was a passage through which 
ships might sail to Japan without going is far south as Magellan 
had done. They spoke of this strait which they hoped to find as 
the " Northwest Passage," and one man after an- 
other went out hopefully in search of it. How 
discouraged these bold navigators would have 
been if they had known that no such passage 
would be found until the middle of the nineteenth century, and 
that even then it would prove to be so far north as to have httle 
practical value I 



PHILIPPINE CANOE 



20 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



France is 
interested in 
tlie New 
World 



Jacques 
Cartier 



In all these early voyages whoever landed on an unloiown shore 
unfurled his banner and claimed the land for the sovereign in 
whose service he had sailed. France began to feel that it was 
time for her to have a share in these new countries, for even if 
there were no rich cities with which she could trade, there might 
be gold mines and precious stones. There is a tradition that the 
French King said : " Show me Father Adam's will that gives the 
earth to Spain and Portugal and shuts out France." 
Spanish voyagers had gone to South America and Mexico, and 

from those countries gold 
was pouring into Spain; 
but if the Northwest Pas- 
sage could be discovered, 
the nation that controlled 
it need not envy Spain 
her wealth, for trade 
with the Indies would 
be as valuable as a gold 
mine. In 1534 a French- 
man named Jacques Car- 
tier went in search of 
the passage. He seems to 
have thought that there 
was a better chance of 
finding it farther north, 
for he sailed directly west 
to Newfoundland, which 
the Cabots had probably 
first visited., He went 
into a beautiful bay, but it was so warm that he could think of 
no better name to give it than Bale des Chaleurs (Chaleur Bay), 
or the bay of heat. In the usual fashion of the early explorers, 




A MEXICAN INDIAN 



EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 



21 



he claimed the land for his king and set up a great wooden cross. French 
The natives had received him kindly, but when the cross was set America 
up, the chief spoke as well as he could by signs and said : " This established 
is my country, not yours. I am its king, not you." This made 
no difference to Cartier, for it never entered the 
minds of these voyagers that the Indians had 
any rights. He did not care to have trouble, 
however, and he thought it was quite unneces- 
sary to tell the truth to an Indian, so he 
said: "That is nothing. The cross is 
only a beacon to show sailors the way 
to your country." 

When once in the Saint Lawrence, 
Cartier hoped that he had found the 
Northwest Passage, but just as it 
had been with Magellan in the La 
Plata, so it was here, for the stream 
grew narrower and the water fresher 
the farther they Avent. At last they 
had to admit that this was not the 
Passage so long desired. Cartier went 
on, however, to an island in the river 
where Montreal now stands. Here was 
a little Indian village. Back of it was a high hiU, and the view The Saint 
from this hill was so beautiful that he named it Mont Real, or the explored 
royal mountain. To the river itsielf he gave the name Saint Law- 
rence, because he had discovered it on Saint Lawrence's Day. 

A few years later another great river, the Mississippi, was 
visited. This discovery was made by De Soto, the Spanish gov- 
ernor of Cuba. He set out with a thousand men in nine ships. 
He carried with him cattle, mules, horses, and also fierce blood- 
hounds which were sometimes used to hunt the natives. It is 




JACQUES CARTIEE 



De Soto's 
expedition 



22 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Missis- 
sippi River 
discovered 




DE SOTO REACHING THE JlLSSlSSlFi'l 
(From Powell's picture in the Capitol at Washington) 

no wonder that the Indians who had welcomed the Spaniards so 
warmly became as savage as the invaders, and tortured every 
Spaniard that fell into their hands. 

De Soto had been told that if he went to the westward he would 
find a land rich in gold, so to the west he made his way. He came 
to the Mississippi River in 1541, but he found no gold. The In- 
dians had become bitter enemies, two thirds of his thousand men 
had died in the wilderness, and he decided to build two boats, 
float down the river to the Gulf of Mexico, and then push on to 
Cuba. Before the boats could be made, De Soto died. He was 
so hated by the Indians that, for fear they should insult his grave, 
his followers hollowed out the trunk of an oak and buried their 
dead leader at midnight in the waters of the mighty stream that 
he had discovered. 



EARLY FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS 23 

Nearly fifty years had passed since the first voyage of Columbus. 
Spain, England, Portugal, and France had all sent out explorers. Explorations 
The general course of the Spaniards and the Portuguese had been nations*^^ 
to lands around the Gulf of Mexico and to the south of it. The 
Enghsh had sailed to Newfoundland and Labrador. The French 
had explored the Saint Lawrence. Both English and French had 
explored part of the eastern coast of North America. 



SUMMARY. 

{Vithin fifty years after the voyage of Columbus : — 

The Cabots visited the mainland of America. 

Vespucius coasted along South America. 

De Leon went to Florida. 

Magellan's ship sailed around the world. 

Cartier explored the Saint Lawrence. 

De Soto discovered the Mississippi. 
These voyages, together with that of Columbus, gave Spain, France, and 

England claims to land in North America. 
They proved : — 

That the world was round. 

That it was much larger than had been supposed. 

That a continent lay between Europe and Asia. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Write a conversation between two persons about the New World. 
Describe Cartier's planting the cross at Chaleur Bay. 
Describe the burial of De Soto. 



24 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



III 
THE EARLY ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 



Claims of 
France, Eng- 
land, and 
Spain 







As has been said, it was 
the custom for each ex- 
plorer to take possession 
for his king of whatever 
land he visited. This is 
why the French claimed 
the country about the 
Saint Lawrence, the Eng- 
lish claimed all between 
Maine and Florida, and 
the Spanish claimed Flor- 
ida, Mexico, the West In- 
dies, and South America. 
There were no bounda- 
ries between these terri- 
tories, no one knew how 
far west the continent extended, and each sovereign had a vague 
idea that he had a right to all the land that was connected with 
the place where his explorer was the first to land. 

Fifty years after Columbus's death neither Spain, France, nor 
England had settled on the mainland of what is now the United 
States. Different explorers had tried to found colonies, and even 
on Columbus's first voyage some of his followers were so de- 
lighted with the new country that they persuaded him to allow 
them to remain there when he sailed for home. This colony failed. 



OLD SPANISH GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE 



ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 



25 



The chief reason was that the "Why the 
of making? their homes in the New n?Js^failed 



however, and so did all the others. 

colonists had no thought 

World. What they wanted was to fill their pockets with gold or 



.-^^j 



--«ti^ 



pearls or diamonds and then go back 
to Europe to spend their money. 

Filled with this idea, they paid little 
attention to the character of the region 
to which they were going. What the 
soil was, and whether it was a good 
place for a home, made little differ- 
ence to them. So much treasure had 
been found in America that men were 
ready to believe that anything was of 
value if it only came from across the 
ocean. The caterpillars of Florida 
they took for remarkably fine silk- 
worms. Quartz crystals from near 
Quebec they felt sure were diamonds, 
and when a sea-captain carried home a black stone from the frozen 
lands north of North America, he was immediately sent back across 
the ocean for a cargo of black stones, for the wise men of Lon- 
don declared that the specimen was full of gold. To colonists 
with such ideas as these, it seemed absurd to 



waste their time planting corn, when by 
a little searching they could per- 
haps discover a gold mine. This 
is the chief reason why during the First perma- 
second fifty years after Columbus memf/n ^' 




SPANISH TREASUUE SEEKER 
(Showing the soldier's cuirass and halberd) 




A SILKWORM 



discovered America oiily two per- the United 

Ststes 
manent settlements were made in 



what is now the United States. One was at Saint Augustine, in 
Florida, which the Spanish founded in 1565. The other, also 
Spanish, was at Santa Fe in New Mexico. 



26 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Sir Walter 
Raleigh 



Of the colonies that failed one was unlike the others. This 
was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh, the best known Englishman 
of his time. He was an admirable leader and a brave soldier, as 
well as the author of some very good poetry and an interesting 
history of the world. Whatever he undertook he did well, and 
he always seemed to know just what to do. There is a story 
that one day Queen Elizabeth wished to cross a piece of damp 
ground. The attendants did not know how to save her Majesty 
from setting her royal foot in the mud, but, quick as thought, Sir 
Walter spread his rich velvet mantle on the ground before her, 
and the queen passed over safely. Whether this is true or not, 
the warrior poet was a successful courtier, and Elizabeth was 
inclined to grant whatever he asked. 

He was greatly interested in the New World, and he had some 

















fc S!5r I, ..liii^^^^^^^^^^HHI 


^■■1 


g^ 




^ 


II 


if ^ '''^Pctv 




B'' 




1 


1 


i^^l^MJi^^^^Maii«t^iis^^E^ BH J^^^^l 




11 


fe^l 


1 



BIRTHPLACE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH AT HAYES IN DEVONSHIRE 

ideas that were unlike those of most men of his time. Others 
had thought that the chief value of America lay in the gold mines 
that might be found there; Raleigh believed that if colonists 
would form real settlements and cultivate the ground, their sow- 
ing and reaping would be worth more than the vague chance of 



ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 



27 



discovering a mine. Most men thought that if the Northwest JJ^^J^'gJjgS 
Passage could be found, Europe would become enormously rich about 
from trade with Asia. Raleigh dreamed of America's becoming America 
a second home of the English nation. "And when the land is 
full of English towns," he 
thought, " what need will there 
be of trading ^vith Asia ? Will 
not this American England give 
us a market for our manufac- 
tures?" 

Raleigh was a rich man, and 
he straightway sent out two 
ships to explore the coast of 
America. The next thing to 
do was to mterest Queen Eliz- 
abeth in the plan. A man 
named Richard Hakluyt knew 
more about America than any 
one else, and Raleigh asked him 
to write a book for her, telling 
why it would be a good thing 
for England to have colonies in 
the New World. Hakluyt gave 
many reasons. He brought for- 
ward the hope that America would become a market for Eng- Reasons 

lish manufactures. He declared that England would soon have ^°\ plantmg 

° colonies 

neither food nor work for her people. It was becoming so much 

more profitable to raise sheep than grain that large numbers of 

English farmers were turning their farms into sheep pastures. 

They no longer planted grain, and as one man could care for 

many sheep, the men who had been working on farms had nothing 

to do. It is no wonder that many people agreed with Hakluyt. 




QUEEN ELIZABETH 
(From a portrait in the Queen Victoria collection) 



28 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




Objections 
to planting 
colonies 



Another strong reason was that England could weaken Spain by 
having colonies in America. English vessels, he said, could easily 

go forth from these colonies and cap- 
ture Spanish treasure ships, as well 
as drive the Spaniards from the 
Newfoundland fishing grounds. 
Spain would no longer receive 
the vast amounts of gold 
that had been coming to 
her from her American pos- 
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S COACH scssious. "Then is there no 

doubt," said Hakluyt, " but the Spanish empire falls to the ground, 
and the Spanish king shall be left bare as yEsop's proud crow." 

Elizabeth was much mterested in the plan, and on the return 
of Raleigh's exploring vessels suggested that the land which they 
had visited should be called Virginia in honor 
of her, their virgin queen. When she was asked 
to send out a colony, it was a different matter. 
No doubt it would be a good thing to have 
powerful settlements in America from which 
vessels could be sent out to capture Spanish 
ships, but it would be some years before 
these settlements would be strong enough 
to do anything of the kind, and in the 
mean time England needed all her 
money and all her ships to meet an 
attack that was threatened by Spain. 

Finally Raleigh sent out more than one 
hundred emigrants at his own expense. The 
(jueen had granted him a generous tract of land, for " Virginia " 
was to extend from Cape Fear to Halifax, and she had promised 
that American colonists should have all the privileges of men born 




TOBACCO 



ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 



29 



and living in England, and that they should make such laws as 
they thought best. England claimed this vast area of land because 
of the discoveries of the Cabots. Elizabeth said that Spanish 
claims were nothing where Spain had no settlements, and as for 



have, no one thought 

went to Roanoke Is- 

It failed utterly. 

was delayed. 



Raleigh's 
colony fails 



any rights that the Indians might 
of them at all. In 1585 the colony 
land, off the coast of North Carolina. 
The promised ship with provisions 
the men were homesick, they pre- 
ferred to search for gold rather than 
to work, and the governor de- 
clared that they talked too 
much ! An English vessel 
came to the island, and 
they all went home. They 
carried with them pota- 
toes and tobacco, and from 
that day to this, as has 
been said, " the air of Eng- 
land has never been free 
from tobacco smoke." 

Two years later Ra- 
leigh sent out a second 
colony to the same 
place, this time of men, wO' 
men, and children. Not Spanish treasure ships 

long after they landed, there was born to the governor's daughter His second 
a little girl, who was the first child born in America of English ^^ ^ 
parents. She was named Virginia Dare. No one knows what 
became of this little American girl, for the governor had to return 
to England ; and when three years later he was able to go back 
to the colony, the little granddaughter and aU the other colonists 




30 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



had disappeared. There is a tradition that some Indians were at 
first kind to them, but afterwards murdered nearly all. It was 
rumored that one young girl was among the few that the savages 
spared, but whether it was the child Virginia, no one can tell. 
Raleigh had not forgotten the colonists during those three 




SPANISH ARMAUA ATTACKED BY THE ENGLISH FLEET 
(From an ancient tapestry in ttie House of Lords) 

Why Raleigh years. He tried to send a vessel to them, but it was driven back 
did not help ^^ p^^,^ i^y q^^ Spaniards. He tried again, but the English govern- 
ment had need of every ship in the kingdom, and his vessel was 
seized for the service of his country. This was in the famous 
year 1588. Spain was determined to conquer England, and she 
had fitted out a great fleet of warsliips. The Spanish word for 
fleet is " armada," and Spain was so sure that no other vessels 
could resist her onslaught that she called the fleet the Invincible 
Armada. This attack was not for money or possessions ; the king 
of Spain meant to become also king of England. The whole land 
was aroused. Every one who owned a vessel went out to fight 
the Armada, and the end of the matter was that the Spanish 
ships were so shattered by the English attacks and by storms 
that not more than one half ever returned to Spain. 



ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 31 

Before this time England had always been afraid of contests 

•with the Spaniards, for Spain was a rich and powerful country. 

English vessels were so often captured by Spanish men-of-war 

that even if English colonies had been planted in America, the 

colonists could not have been sure of receiving food and suppUes 

from England ; but after the victory over the Armada, England England is 

was " mistress of the seas " and could plant her colonies where ^«'?i'^^'^^^^ , 

■^ or the seas 

she would. Spain was thoroughly subdued and seldom ventured 
to interfere. 

This contest took place while Queen Elizabeth lived ; but when 
she died, King James, the next sovereign, seemed to care for 
nothing else so much as winning the friendship of Spain. Now 
Spain hated Raleigh, not only because he had fought against the 
Armada, but because he had tried to plant a colony 
and to find a gold mine on what she claimed was 
Spanish soil; and to please Spain this great man 
was kept in prison for twelve years, and 
finally executed on a false charge of trea- 
son. Prisoner as he was, he never gave 
up his interest in America. " I shall live 
to see Virginia an English nation," he said, and he 
did see the beginning of a new home for part of 
the English people across the ocean. If he could 
look upon America now, he would think that his 
dream had come true, though it would surprise 
him greatly that the colonies planted by English- 
men were no longer under English rule. Ameri- 
cans should never forget Sir Walter Raleigh, for Spanish gentleman of 
he was one of the first men in the world to be- ^"^ armada period 
lieve in the wonderful future that lay before our land. 

In 1600 America had been known for one century. People 
had by that time a fair idea of the shape of South America, but. 




32 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Ideas about 
North Amer- 
ica in 1600 



Search for 
the North- 
west Pas- 
sage 



although explorers had coasted along the eastern shores of North 
America, and also along the western shores as far as what is now 
^mF- -a called Oregon, no one 



had any notion of the 
shape or size of the 
northern half of the 
New World. From 
Florida to where New 
York now stands might 
be a solid mass of land, 
they thought, extend- 
ing to California, but 





SEEKl^iG i'UE JSUKiUWEbl i'Ati.SAGE 
(The Hudson River explored during the search) 



Canada and all the northwestern part of what is now the United 
States many supposed to be one great sea broken by islands. 
From Virginia across the land to this vast northern ocean they 
thought was perhaps one hundred miles. 

Explorers hoped to find a strait through this land, and when- 
ever a mariner came to the wide 
mouth of a river, he would say to 
himself, "Surely I am the fortunate 
man who has discovered the North- 
west Passage." If he sailed up the 
river, he found the water less salt 
with every mile, and at last he would 
turn his ships about and sail back, 
saying, "The Northwest Passage 
must lie farther north, or it may be 
farther south." Never would he say 
to himself, "There is no Northwest 
Passage." 

Although Raleigh saw farther into sassafras 

the future of America than most other men, he was not the only 





ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS 33 

one interested in the New World. Valuable woods and dyestuffs Increased 
had been found ; sassafras had been discovered, and sassafras was [he^Ne\v " 
the fashionable medicine of the day, the remedy that would cure World 
all diseases. Merchants began to feel that there were as good 
opportunities for gain in America as elsewhere in the world. 

Other books than Hakluyt's were written to show that it was 
worth while to plant colonies. One strong reason for making 
settlements in America was that by founding colonies England 
might have a larger share in the American 
fisheries. Great quantities of fish were 
caught off the shores of Newfoundland. 
Many more Frenchmen than Englishmen 
had taken advantage of this fact ; but if 
only there were colonies near the fisliing codfish 

grounds, the English fishermen could be (The most important of the American fishes) 

protected from their enemies, and the colonists could salt and 
dry fish and have it ready to send home to England. 

SUMMARY. 

France, England, and Spain all claimed a share in the New World, but in 

1600 there were only two permanent colonies, — Saint Augustine in 

Florida, and Santa Fe in New Mexico. Both were Spanish. 
Raleigh believed that America would become a second home of the English 

nation. He planted two colonies on Roanoke Island, but both failed. 
England's defeat of the Armada enabled her to plant colonies without fear 

of Spain. 
In 1600 the shape of North America was unknown. The continent was || 

thought to be much narrower than it is. It was also believed that a 

passage led tnrough it to the Pacific. 
England was feeling interested in the Newfoundland fisheries, and met- l| 

chants were finding that there were opportunities for gain in the New 

World. 



34 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Raleigh writes a letter to Queen Elizabeth, asking for help to found a colony 
One of Raleigh's colonists writes a letter home describing the potato. 
What became of little Virginia Dare ? 
What Raleigh would think of America to-day. 



IV 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 



The differ- 
ent Indian 
tribes 



For many centuries be- 
fore Columbus came to 
America tbe country was 
inliabited by a copper- 
colored people whom he 
called Indians, because he 
supposed that he was on 
the coast of India. There 
were many different 
tribes, and each tribe had 
a name, but for their race 
as a whole they had no 
other name than a word 
meaning " Men," or " Real 
Men." 

The Indians of the 
northwest never had any 
settled homes, but roamed about from place to place and lived 
on fish and game. Those of the southwest lived in fortresses of 
stone, often built four or five stories high up the face of a cUff, and 




INDIAN B\\ I r LINO IN THF SOUTHWEST 
(The Pueblo of Wolpi in Arizona) 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 



35 




each of them large enough to make a dwelling for two or three 
thousand persons. Those of the east, the ones with whom the 
early English colonists had most to do, gathered into villages. 
They lived partly by the chase, and partly on 
some of the vegetables that are most easily 
raised, — corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes. 
The Indians who dwelt in villages some- 
times built long houses large enough for Long houses 
many families, with a division for each family. ![," ^^T^' 
Sometimes they made wigwams. For these 
they drove poles into the ground in a circle 
and fastened the tops together for a frame- 
work. Then they spread over this 
framework the bark of trees, or 
skins fastened together with the 
sinews of animals. Sometimes, like the 
people who hved in England in the early 
days, they wove slender twigs back and forth among the 
poles. The fire was on the ground in the middle of the wig- 
wam, and the smoke made its way out as best it could. 

Each family had its own wigwam. The husband, or brave, 
must protect his wife and children from their foes, and he 
must procure whatever meat and fish were used. The wife, 
or squaw, must provide the vegetables. She must not only 
cook them, but she must plant the seed and give them what- 
ever care was needed while they were growing. A brave 
would work to make bows and arrows, but he would not hoe 
the corn. If his family moved, he would stalk on ahead with 
his weapons, while his wife followed as best she could with the 
household goods. 

This seems at the first glance like a most unfair division of 
labor, but it must be remembered that when the brave fished, he 



SQUAW CARRYING A 
PAPOOSE 




The Indian 
family 



A STONE 
AXE 



36 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The brave 



had something more to do than to bait his hook and drop it into 
the water. He must make liis hook before he could bait it, and 
he must make his line from the fibrous bark of some tree. If he 
needed a pole, he must* cut it, not with a sharp steel hatchet, but 
with a dull stone knife and he must also make the knife. His 
boat was either a birch-bark canoe, or a " dug-out," which was 
hollowed out of the trunk of a tree. Making a boat, as well as 
almost all other work that the Indians did, was long, slow, and 
wearisome. 
The household goods of the Indians were few. There was per- 




AIAkiWl, A CANOE WAS SLOW AND WEARISOME WOEK 

haps a basket or two. some skins to sleep on, a bowl made of clay 
hardened in the fire, and not much else. If there was a baby, or 
The papoose papoose, in the household, it was not allowed to lie on the ground 
or creep about as white babies do. An Indian mother would 
have thought it very careless to treat her precious child in such 
a fashion. The Indian baby was carefully wrapped in the softest 
of skins and tied to a framework of wicker or wood. Then baby 
and framework were stood up in any safe place, or swung to the 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 



37 



branch of a tree, where the wind would rock the child better than 
a cradle, and the bright green leaves, gleaming in the sunshine 
and waving in the breeze, were prettier playthings than 
any that are found in the toyshops. The Indians of 
to-day who have not adopted the ways of the white 
people treat their children in the same manner, and 
the babies always look contented and happy. 

When the children grew older, the girls were 
taught to do all the kinds of work that their 
mothers did. They learned to make baskets and 
pottery, to plant corn and cultivate it, and to cook in the 
clay bowls. If they had only dishes of wood, they would fill 
them with water and heat the water by dropping in hot stones. 
In this way they could boil their meat and vegetables ; or they 
could broil the meat over the open fire and 
roast the potatoes and squashes in the hot 
ashes. They had no way of grinding corn, 
but they pounded it into a coarse meal, 
mixed it with water, and made cakes of it. 
Making the clothes of the family did not re- 
quire much time, for no one wore very many. Indian 
A rudely woven garment of cotton or grass- c'o*">"8 
cloth was enough for the summer, wliile 
leggings of skin and a fur cloak were a 
wardrobe for many winters. The Indian 
women liked pretty things as well as white 
women do, and they gave a great deal 
of attention to the shoes of the famUy. 
These shoes were called moccasins. They were made of soft, 
thick deerskin, and were embroidered with porcupine quills and 
tiny shells. It was partly because of this embroidery that the 
Indians were so deUghted when the colonists gave them beads, 





THE INDIAN 
BABY'S CRADLE 



BOILING FOOD IN AN 
EARTHEN POT 



38 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Weapons 



The scalp 
lock 



for beads were easier to use than shells and of much more bril- 
liant colors. 

As the boys grew older, they were taught to do what their 

fathers did. They learned not only to fish and shoot, 

but to make their own flshliooks of bits of bone, and 

their own bows of wood with the sinews of deer for 

bow-strings. The heads of the arrows were made of 

stone, and the Indian boy must work patiently hour 

after hour, chipping off a httle bit of stone at each 

blow, until he had brought the head to the proper 

shape. Then it was bound fast to the wooden arrow. 

He must make his knife by rubbing a bone on a rock 

until it had an edge. The tomahawk was made of 

stone, and that, too, was shaped and sharpened by 

being rubbed on a rock untd it slowly came to be of 

the right form. 

The Indian boys did not have an easy time by any 
means. Even their games were not what we should 
call play, for many of them were only tests to 
see who could endure most. It is said that 
one game was played by the boys putting red- 
hot coals under their arms. The boy who 
dropped his coal first was laughed at and de- 
xNDiAN WEAPONS gpigg^^ whilc the one who bore the pain long- 
est was the hero of the day and was honored by the 
boys and by their fathers. 

As soon as the boy was old enough to become a war- 
rior, his head was shaved, except for one long lock of 
hair called the scalp-lock. When an Indian killed an enemy, he 
always " scalped " him, that is, he cut off a round piece of the 
skin of the scalp. This lock was left to make it convenient to 
cut off the piece of skin and carry it away. An Indian would 





FISHHOOKS 
OF BONE 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 39 

have thought it exceedingly cowardly to remove his scalp-lock 
before going to fight, and when he looked upon an enemy's, it 
seemed to say, " Take me if you can." 

Their fighting was carried on in quite a different fashion from 
that of Europeans. The Indian had no idea of two Imes of war- Method of 
riors facing each other and shooting till the men of one side had 
either fallen or run away. That would have seemed to him a 
most ridiculous thing to do. The proper way to 
fight, according to his ideas, was to shoot from 
behind rocks and trees, or to come suddenly 
upon his enemies with a horrible war-whoop, 
perhaps in the middle of the night, and kill 
them before they were fairly awake. 

The Indians often tortured their prisoners, 
but perhaps not wholly from the fiendish 
delight, that some races have shown, in see- 
ing the sufferings of others. To bear torture , 

° 'AN INDIAN SCALP- 

without a groan was their test of a great man. lock 

If the prisoner contrived to get the better of his captors by some 
deed of bravery, they showed him all honor. Only a few years 
ago, a young missionary won over a group of Indians in Dakota 
by riding a " bucking " pony that they had not been able to man- 
age. " After that," said he, "" I could preach to them all day if I 
chose, and they would listen to every word." 

Each tribe had a chief, but all important questions were talked 
over in a general council of the braves of the tribe. The records Wampum 
of these councils were carefully kept, only the Indian way was 
not by pen and paper, but by the use of small shells made into 
beads and called wampum. Belts were made of this wampum, 
and as shells of different colors were used, sometimes pictures of 
men and animals were formed ; but even if there were no pictures, 
the Indians could tell by the arrangement of the shells what had 




40 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



been done at a council, or what treaties had been made. This 
wampum was not only a record, but the shells took the place 
of money, and for some time even the colonists used them for 
that purpose. After a while the Indians made their wampum of 
beads, and a handful of beads was to a red man what 
a handful of gold dollars is now to a white man. 
With this in mmd, the price paid for Rhode Island, 
forty fathoms of white wampum, does not seem so 
ridiculously small. 

The Indians thought that if they were brave 
warriors they would go to the "Happy Hunting 
Grounds" when they died. That they might be 
able to follow the chase in this world of happiness, 
their weapons were usually buried with them, and 
sometimes a dog was killed and laid at the feet of his dead 
master. They are thought to have believed in one Great Spirit, 
who was more powerful than all other gods, though they also 
worshiped the sun, rain, wind, lightning, or anything else that could 
help or harm them. They were honest and truthful with mem- 
bers of their own tribe, and they had a great admiration for any 
one among the whites who kept his word with them. Long after 

the early colonial days, a 

man in Pennsylvania was 

AN INDIAN PIPE caUcd amoug them " He 





j=*b= 



that Tells the Truth"; and even now the In- 

\ dians of Minnesota speak of the late Bishop 

Whipple as " Straight Tongue," because he never 

broke his word to them. 

In their dealmgs with the whites, they always remembered a 

Treatment of kindness, though they never forgot to avenge an injury. Almost 

by^the'^'^"^ all of the early explorers say that the Indians were at first gentle 

whites and friendly. The whites looked down upon them as heathen, 



THE INDIANS AND THEIR WAYS 



41 



but it was often the Europeans that behaved like savages. Their 
treatment of the red men brought upon the colonists many of the 
attacks that filled their lives with fear and suffering. If there 
was any difficulty with the Indians, the whites would generally 
stand by one another ; and for this reason the Indians felt that 
if one group of settlers had done them a wrong, they had a per- 
fect right to avenge it on any other group. 

Such were the people whom the early settlers in America had 
to meet. If from the first coming of the dis- 
coverers the red men had been treated with 
kindness, taught and not despised, many a 
story of suffering and bloodshed would have 
been unwritten. To the Spanish founder of 
Saint Augustine the Pope wrote: "Have a 
care that you show not bad habits and vices 
to the Indians, and so prevent them from be- 
coming Christians." It is to be regretted that 
this advice was not always followed. 

The red men looked upon the first white 
men that they saw as angels come do^^al 
from the skies to counsel them and teach 
them. It was a sad thing for them and for 
the whole country that their first century of acquaintance with 
Europeans should have often shown them the white man, not as 
the kind teacher, but as the savage conqueror, ready for the sake 
of gold to torture, enslave, and murder the people who had wel- 
comed him and trusted him. 




THE WARKIOR'S WAR DANCE 



SUI^IMARY. 

Columbus called the natives of America Indians, because he thought he 

was on the coast of India. 
The Indians that had settled homes lived in stone fortresses, in long houses, 



42 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



or in wigwams. Their food was vegetables, fish, or the animals that 
they shot. Their tools and weapons were made of stone or bone. Their 
boats were canoes or dug-outs. 

The papoose was protected by a wooden framework. The girls learned to 
make household utensils, to cook, raise corn, and make the clothes of 
the family. The boys learned to hunt, fish, and make their own 
weapons. Their games were often tests of endurance. 

The warrior always had a scalp-lock. He shot from behind rocks and trees 
He often tortured prisoners. 

Wampum was used for money and for keeping the records of the tribe. 

The Indians believed that after death they would live again. They reniem 
bered a kindness, but never forgot an injury. They welcomed the firi=t 
white men as teachers come from the skies, 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

An Indian boy tells a white boy how to build a wigwam. 
An Indian girl tells how her mother cooks the dinner. 
The Indians held a council about making war upon the whites ; what did 
they say? 



VIRGINIA, THE FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH 
COLONY 



Plymouth 
and London 
Companies 



Sir Walter Raleigh at last concluded that planting colonies 
should be the work of a king or of a company of men, and he 
gave up his claim to the American lands. While he was in prison, 
two companies were formed to send colonists to Virginia. They 
were named the Plymouth Company and the London Company. 
King James gave to the Plymouth Company the land between 
Nova Scotia and Long Island, and to the London Company, the 
land between the Potomac and Cape Fear. From the Atlantic 



VIRGINIA 



43 



to the Pacific is about three thousand miles, but no one supposed 
then that it was more than one or two hundred, and King James 
declared that these grants were to extend from ocean to ocean. 
The strip between the two claims was to belong to the company 
that could colonize it first. The Plymouth Company did little 

more than to coast along the 







The London 
Company's 
first colony 



GRANTS TO THE LONDON ANU 
PLYMOUTH COMPANIES 



shore and trade with the In- 
dians, but the London Com- 
pany founded the first per- 
manent Enghsh settlement in 
America. 

In 1607 the London Com- 
pany sent out one hundred 
and five men. Many promi- 
nent persons in England were 
interested in this colony, and 
Hakluyt wrote them a long 
letter of advice. He told 
them to be kind to the " nat- 
urals," as he called the In- 
dians, but not to trust them. 
An English poet wrote a poem Ideas of 
about " Virginia, earth's only ""8'"^* 
paradise." In the plays of 
the time there was much talk 



about this marvelous country. One character says : — 

"l tell thee, gold is more plentiful there than copper is with 
us, . . . All the prisoners they take are fettered in gold ; and for 
rubies and diamonds, they go forth on holidays and gather them, 
by the seashore to hang on their children's coats and stick in their 
children's caps." 
The little company sailed for America. Up the coast they 



44 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




Sickness 
and other 
troubles 



went; between two points of land, which they named Cape 
Charles and Cape Henry in honor of the two sons of King 
James; and up a river, which they named the 
James River in honor of the king himself. On a 
peninsula which extended into the stream they 
decided to make their settlement. They called it 
Jamestown. 

Everything was against the colony. They had 
thought more of defense than of good air, and 
they had settled where it was damp and un- 
healthy. The river water was not fit to drink. 
They had so scanty a supply of food that one 
pint of wormy 
wheat and 
ENGLISH SOLDIER OF 1603 barlcv a day 
was all that could be allowed 
to a man. Such a hot sum- 
mer they had never known. 
Fever broke out, and more 
than half the company died. 

Some of tliese troubles 
might have been avoided if 
the colonists had been a dif- 
ferent kind of men, but half 
of them had no idea how to 
work with their hands. Some 
had come to see what adven- 
tures they might meet with, 

some to search for gold, and captain john smith 

some with the hope of winning glory and a royal reward by 
finding the Northwest Passage. All these men needed houses, 
and there were but four carpenters in the party. 




VIRGINIA 



45 



With sickness and hunger and helplessness there would have 
been httle hope for the colonists if there had not been among Early adven- 
their number odc man, Captain John Smith, who knew what to s^hh 
do. He wrote the story of his hfe, and it is full of adventures 
almost as wonderful as those of Sindbad the Sailor. When he 
came to Virginia, he was only twenty-seven years of age, and in 
those twenty-seven years he had served as a soldier in three or 
four countries, and had been tossed into the sea as one whom a 
company of self-right- 
eous pilgrims thought 
would bring them 
bad luck. Three 
times he had en- 
gaged in single 
combat with a Turk- 
ish champion, while 
two armies watched 
the contest with de- 
hght. He was taken 
prisoner by the Turks 
and made to wear a 
heavy iron collar. 
He escaped to Rus- 
sia, and finally made his way back to England just in time to 
join the Virginia expedition. His story is a strange one, but in 
those days of wild adventures it was not impossible for such 
things to come to pass. 

Some of the Indians about Jamestown were hostile, others were 
inclined to be friendly. Smith contrived to compel the hostile 
tribes and persuade the friendly ones to sell the colonists corn. John Smith 
After a while he set out on an exploring trip up one of the rivers. Indians 
He was taken prisoner, but he showed the Indians his pocket- 




SMITH DEFEATS THE TURKISH CHAMPION 
(From a rare print. The orescent and cross above distinguish 
the Turk from the Christian) 



46 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Pocahontas 




A GENTLEMAN OF 1610 



compass, and they hardly dared to kill a man who had such a 
wonderful article ; he might bring some terrible evil upon them. 
After much discussion, however, it was decided 
to run the risk. His head was laid upon a stone, 
and the warriors were ready to strike, when Po- 
cahontas, the little daughter of the chief, 
claimed the prisoner as hers, and his life was 
saved. This is the story that Smith tells, 
and there is no special reason for doubting it. 
It was not uncommon among the Indians for 
one of the tribe to rescue a prisoner in this 
way. The chief, Powhatan, was perhaps a 
little amused to see the child claiming the 
rights of a grown person ; and then, too, he 
was half afraid to put the man to death, and 
it may be that he was glad to find a way to 

avoid it. Powhatan told Smith that he was now a mem, 
her of their tribe and might go back to his white friends 
whenever he chose. 

On the day of Smith's return another shipload of men 
arrived from England, but they would do nothing ex- 
cept to search for gold. Before long some earth was 
found that was full of bright yellow grains of metal. 
" That is gold," they cried in delight, and the ship was 
sent back across the ocean with what proved to be 
worthless dirt. A third shipload of men came, but 
they were like the others, — eager to search for gold, 
and with no idea of doing any work. John Smith 
was now governor of the colony, and he wrote to the 
London Company : " Send us but thirty carpenters, 
husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and dig- 
gers up of trees' roots, rather than a thousand of such as we have." 




A VIRGINIA INDIAN 
(From John Smith's map) 



VIRGINIA 



47 



The third ship had also brought a letter from the Company. 
The men who had paid for carrying the colonists to Virginia Three de- 
thought it was time for them to receive some return from their company * 
investment. Their demands seem like the three feats required of 
the hero of a fairy-tale, for they said that the colonists must either 
send them a great lump of gold, or discover the Northwest 
Passage, or else find what had become of the English who had 
disappeared from Roanoke Island nearly twenty years earlier. 
"The Company are fools," said Governor Smith bluntly; but 
probably the Company thought that they had asked no more than 
was fair. They may have reasoned, " Where a substance so 
nearly like gold is found, there must be gold not far away, 5 
and it is mere idleness and laziness not to discover it." \ 

What the colony would have done without the common /^^ 
sense of John Smith is a question. The plan had been 
that whatever money and food could be obtained should 
be divided equally. The lazy ones knew that they would 
fare as well whether they did any work or not, and so 
they idled their time away. Governor Smith put an end 
to that, and now if a man would not work six hours a 
day, no food was given him ; and these idle gentlemen 
had to learn to hoe corn and cut down trees. The 
axes blistered their fingers, and they seemed to fancy /\ 
that the pain would be less if they swore about it. The / 
governor had an account kept of their oaths, and at night 
one can of cold water was poured down each man's sleeve for 
every oath that he had uttered during the day. This punishment, 
according to John Smith's " History of Virginia," was so success- 
ful that " a man would scarce hear an oath in a week." 

The Indians began to see that the white men meant to stay in 
America, and they were not pleased. Even Powhatan refused to Powhatan is 
seii corn, but the child Pocahontas was friendly, and often the ^^"^^^'^y 




INDIAN COBN 



48 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



time 



lives of the colonists would have been much harder if she and her 
companions had not brought them corn and venison. 
Three years passed. Governor Smith was badly injured by an 
The starving accident and had to return to England, Then came a terrible 
winter known as the " starving time," when the colonists suffered 
so severely from cold and famine that in the spring only sixty 
were ahve out of five hundred. " It is of no use to try to live in 
Virginia," said they. " We will make our way to Newfoundland 
if we can, and then cross to England." They went aboard their 
small boats and were far down the river when, behold, three 
stately ships came into view, full of provisions. The colonists 
turned back joyfully, and Jamestown was saved. 

On board the vessel was a new governor who ruled in much 
the same way as John Smith. He gave every man a piece of land 
and said, "You must work if you wish to eat." After a while 
the settlers became more willing to work, for 
they found that it paid better than searching for 
gold. A far-seeing man named John Rolf e had be- 
gun to raise tobacco. Smoking was now common 
in England, and smokers would pay a large price 
for Virginia tobacco, so before many years the 
poor Virginians were becoming the rich Virgin- 
ians. 

One chapter of the history of the colony might 
have come from a story-book. When the little 
girl Pocahontas was about twenty years old, she 
married the planter John Rolfe, who took his 
bride to England. The "Lady Rebekah," as she 
A VIRGINIA PLANTER was thcrc called, was received as a princess, the 
The Lady daughter of a great king, for even then people in Europe could 
not seem to understand that Powhatan was not a mighty sov- 
ereign governing a nation, but a naked savage ruling over a 




Rebekah 



VIRGINIA 



49 



little tribe in the wilderness. John Smith went to see the tall, 
handsome, dignified young woman, but when he addressed her as 
" Lady Rebekah," she was grieved and said : " But you must call 
me your child and let me call you father, just as we did in Vir- 
ginia." 

Powhatan sent several of his tribe to England with Pocahontas. 
He was anxious to know how many people there were in the Counting the 
distant land across the ocean, and to one of his men he gave a "^ '^ 
bundle of little sticks, telling him to cut a notch every time he 
met a white man. When the Indian landed in London, he took 








JAMESTOWN IN 1622 
(From an early Dutch account of Virginia) 



one look at the crowds waiting to see the ship come in, grunted in 
amazement, and threw away his bundle of sticks. 

In 1619, when the settlement was twelve years old, three im- 
portant events took place. The first was the arrival of a shipload A shipload of 
of women. The London Company knew that unless the colonists ^o"^^" 
had homes of their own, they would come back to England as 
soon as they had made their fortunes. It was much better for 
the Company to have permanent settlers than to have the land 
cultivated first by one man and then by another, so they brought 
over ninety respectable young women who were willing to Uve in 
the new country. There was many a suitor for the hand of 



50 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The House 
of Burgesses 



every girl. The one whom she chose must pay the cost of her 
passage, — one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco, — and 
soon there were ninety marriages and ninety homes. The coming 
of these women and of those who followed them was what made 
Virginia a permanent colony, for when the men had homes in the 
new land, they were no longer eager to make their way back to 
the mother country. 

In England no one was allowed to tax the people except the 

House of Commons, and mem- 
bers of that body were not ap- 
pointed by the king, but were 
chosen by the people. Thus 
far Virginia had been ruled by 
a governor appomted by the 
London Company. The settlers 
did not object to this, but they 
said that there ought also to 
be an assembly chosen by them, 
just as members of the House 
of Commons were chosen by 
the people of England, and that 
only such an assembly should 
have the right to tax them, 
The London Company agreed, 
and an assembly met, called the 
This was the beginning of self- 




iPEAKER'S CHAIR, HOUSE OF BURGESSES 

House of Burgesses, or citizens. 



government in America, and was the second great evenj;. A de- 
mand for similar rights of taxation, made by the American colo- 
nies a century and a half later, led to the Revolutionary War. 

The third event was the beginning of slavery. The Virginians 
were cultivating great plantations of tobacco, and they needed 
many laborers. It became the custom in England to send over 



VIRGINIA 51 

shiploads of criminals to serve the planters for a term of years. The begin- 
Kidnappers would steal children and even grown persons, if they si'a\fery in 
had no friends to make trouble, and sell them to the planters. America 
Sometimes poor people who wished to come to America would sell 
themselves, that is, they would agree to work a certain tune for 
any one who would pay their passage. Even this supply was 
not enough, and in the year 1619 a Dutch ship brought twenty 
negroes to Virginia from Africa and sold them as slaves. So 
began that slavery which, two centuries later, had so much to do 
with bringing about the great Civil War that came near making 
our United States the divided states. 

Thus in the same year an English colony first began to be per- 
manent, the ideas that led to the Revolution were first manifested 
in America, and the slavery which brought about the Civil War 
made its first appearance. 

About half a century later, the Virginians again proved their de- 
termination to resist tyranny. Governor Berkeley had made him- Bacon's 
self very unpopular, and when the colony was attacked by the 
Indians, refused to defend it, because he was afraid of the militia. 
A volunteer force assembled, chose Nathaniel Bacon their captain, 
and defeated the Indians. Thereupon the Governor declared Bacon 
a rebel. Then there was rebellion indeed, and finally the Virginians 
set fire to Jamestown to prevent Berkeley from taking shelter 
there. Bacon soon died, but at least a score of his friends were 
hanged by the angry Governor. 

SUMMARY. 

In 1607 the first permanent English settlement was made at Jam^estown. 

The colonists suffered greatly from sickness and want. 

By the wisdom of John Smith the Indians were induced to furnish food, 

but after his return to England seven eighths of the colonists perished. 
In 1619 women came from England, and the colonists began to have homes; 

the House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly in America, 

was established ; and negro slavery- was introduced. 



Rebellion 



52 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK 

Powhatan tells a friendly chief about Pocahontas's saving John Smith's 

life. 
John Smith's reply to the letter from the Company mentioned. 
One of the colonists describes the punishment given to a profane person. 



VI 

PLYMOUTH, THE FIRST COLONY IN NEW 
ENGLAND 



In 1620 the first settlement in New England was made at 

First settle- Plymouth in Massachusetts. The Virgiuia colonists came to 

Eneland America to make their fortunes; the Massachusetts colonists 

came that they might be free to worship God in the way that 

they believed would be most pleasing to him. 

In those times most people thought that every 
person in a country ought to belong to the same 
church as the king, and to pay taxes for the sup- 
port of that church. Kmg James belonged to 
the Episcopal Church, or Church of England, 
and he declared that he would make all his sub- 
jects attend it. Those who were not Episcopa- 
hans were fined and imprisoned without mercy. 
Among them were the Puritans and the Sepa- 
ratists. "Puritans" was a nickname that was 
given to those who said that they wished to 
make the church purer. The name "Separa- 
tists" was given to those who wished to leave 
the church, and these were the people whom we 
THE PILGRIM DRESS Call the Pilgrim Fathers. 




PLYMOUTH 



53 



The king forbade them even to hold meetings at one another's The Pilgrims 
houses, and whenever one of his ofBcers found them doing this, f°^^ 
they were either fined or imprisoned. They ^ knew that 
in Holland men were free to attend whatever 
church they chose, and they determined to go 
to Holland to live. King James had said 
that he would "harry out of the land" all 
who would not attend his church, but 
when the Separatists were ready to go, 
his officers found out their plan and 
arrested the whole company. They made 
a second attempt, and a second time the 
king's men discovered the plan. At 
last they succeeded in making their 
way to Holland. They were in a 
strange land with a people whose cus- 
toms and language were new, but 
they were free. For a while they 
were happy, but as their children grew 
older, the parents found that in spite of all that could be done, 
the young folks were learning the ways of the cliildren around 
them and were talking in their language. 

They had left their homes for the sake of religious freedom, 
but they still longed to live under English rule. They talked They decide 
about Guiana, but decided that it would be too warm. In Vir- America 
ginia the Episcopal Church was in power. John Smith had ex- 
plored the coast of New England and had given it its name, but 
he had reported that it was exceedingly cold. They concluded 
that the best place was somewhere between the Potomac and 
Long Island- The London Company would gladly allow them to 
settle on their land, but the king's permission must be gained. 

When they asked King James for a charter, or written agree- 




WIND3IILL IN HOLLAND 



54 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




THE PILGRIMS' DEPAKTUKE FROM HOLLAND 
(From an old Dutch painting) 



The May- 
flower sets 
sail 



The voyage 



ment that they might settle in America, he said no, he would give 
no charter, but they might go if they chose, and so long as they 
behaved themselves no one should disturb them. 

To England they went, and then set sail for America in two 
vessels, the Speedwell and the Mayflower. The Speedwell sprang 
a leak; and it is possible that the captain's report made the 
injury greater than it was, for he had agreed not only to carry the 
Pilgrims to America, but to remain there with them for a year, 
and he was sorry for his bargain. Over one hundred passengers 
crowded into the Mayflower, Nine weeks they were on the ocean. 
There was an accident. Severe storms drove them out of their 
course, and forced them to take refuge in Massachusetts Bay 
instead of going farther south as they had planned. The land 
about the bay belonged to the Plymouth Company, but the Pil- 
grims knew that the Company would be only too glad to have 



PLYMOUTH 55 

a settlement made on their territory, so they decided to stay 
where they were. 

Before they landed, they met in the cabin of the Mayflower and 
wrote a paper promismg to obey whatever laws should be made, in search of 
After the paper had been signed, a party went ashore to explore ^ ^^^^ 
the country and find a suitable place for their home. It was 
November. The shores were barren, " of a wild and savage hue," 
wrote one of the Pilgrims. No place fit for a settlement was 
found. For many days they explored the coast. The captain and 
the sailors grew more and more impatient. " Choose your place 
soon," said the captain, " for I shall keep enough food to carry my 
men to England." The sailors muttered, " We '11 put your goods 
on shore and leave you." 

Another party went out to explore. John Carver, the first 
governor, William Bradford, the second, and the fiery little 
soldier. Miles Standish, were of this party. Such 
troubles as they had! It was so cold that the 
spray froze to their clothes. A heavy storm 
began to rage, the rudder broke, and the mast 
snapped into three pieces. At last they 
reached land, but what land it was they 
knew not, for night had come upon them. 
They contrived to kindle a fire in the driving 
rain, and waited for the morning. When morn- 
ing came, the sun shone bright and clear. They '^"^ imayflower 
were on Clark's Island, and there they kept ^^--t^^^-"--! Museum model) 
their Sunday with prayer and singing, for great as was their need, 
they would do no exploring on the Lord's Day. 

Monday morning they sailed to the mainland, and went ashore 
at a place that John Smith had named Plymouth, and that they Plymouth 
now agreed to call Plymouth in remembrance of the English town '^'^^sen 
from which they had sailed. This was the best place that they 




56 



OUR COUNTRY^S STORY 



PLYMOUTH ROCK 



had seen, and it did not take them long to go back to the ship and 
report that they had decided upon a home. In Plymouth there is 
a rock which is carefully protected and 
guarded, for people believe that on this 
rock the explorers stepped ashore. De- 
cember twenty-first, the day of their 
landing, is called Forefathers' Day, and 
is celebrated in their honor. There 
were a number of children on board, 
and after being crowded into the ship for so many weeks, they 
must have been glad enough to go ashore. 

There was no room to spare, even when they were on land, for 
after they had been in Plymouth all winter and all the following 
summer, there were but seven houses. For a while they had only 
one house into which they crowded their goods and as many 
persons as possible. Some had to remain on the Mayflower for 
several weeks. 

The story of the winter seems almost like that of the starving 

Hardships of time in Virginia, though the Pilgrims were somewhat better sup- 

the first 

winter plied with food. One after another fell ill, and at one time only 

six or seven were well enough to take any care of the others. 

The minister, WilUam Brewster, and the brave soldier. 

Miles Standish, were the most tender nurses 

that could be imagined; but in spite of theii 

care, more than half the company died in the 

first three months, sometimes two or thrcb 

in a day. Before they left the Mayflower a 

baby was born to Mrs. White, and was named 

Peregrine from the Latin word peregrinus^ 

meaning a wanderer. Strangely enough, 

this little child was one of the survivors of the hard winter. The 

graves of those who died were leveled with the ground and sowr 




PILGRIM CRADLE 
(K belonged to the Pilgrims' doctor) 



PLYMOUTH 



57 




with wheat, for Indians had been seen, and there was danger 
that they would attack the little settlement if they knew how 
many had died and how few were left to defend it. 

One morning in the spring an Indian appeared who did not 
skulk behind the trees like the others, but walked straight into Samoset and 
the centre of the village and called out, " Welcome, Englishmen, '^^^^^^ 
Welcome ! " The Pilgrims must have felt very much pleased to 
have a word of greeting in the strange land. The Indian's name 
was Samoset. He had been among the fishermen farther north 
and had learned a httle English. It was only a very little, but he 

made the Pilgrims under- 
stand that he had a friend, 
sTANDisHs SWORD Squauto, who had been car- 

ried to England by one of the early explorers, and that Squanto 
could speak English weU. 

Before long the Indian chief, Massasoit, came with a number of 
attendants and Squanto for interpreter. Massasoit had dangerous Treaty with 
enemies, — the Narragansetts, — and he wished to make a treaty 
with the white people so that he might have aid if he were 
attacked. The Pilgrims gave the chief and his attendants some 
presents and feasted them. Then the two parties 
made a solemn promise that they would assist each 
other, and that if a member of either party injured 
one of the other, he should be punished, whether he 
was an Indian or a white man. This treaty was kept 
for more than fifty years. 

The Pilgrims did not waste their time searching 
for gold; they cleared the land and planted corn. 
Squanto showed them the Indian way of making sure 
of a rich soil for the corn by putting a small fish into 
each hill, and he taught them many other things that helped them 
to live in the new country. When the first autumn came, they 




WILLIAW RRADFOED'S 
ARMCHAIR 



58 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The first 
Thanks- 
giving 



Trouble with 
Jhe Indians 




PILGRIMS GOING TO CHURCH 
(From a painting by G. H. Bougliton) 

were so happy at having a good harvest that Governor Bradford 
appointed a day for Thanksgiving, and invited Massasoit and 
ninety of his men to a three-days' feast. 

Not all the red men were as friendly as Massasoit. One day a 
Narragansett Indian strode into Plymouth and asked for Squantc. 
" He has gone fishing," was the reply. Then the Indian threw 
doTvai a queer looking object and stalked away. This proved to be 
a rattlesnake's skin wrapped around a bundle of arrows. There 
was little difficulty in guessing what that meant. The Narragan- 
setts were a large tribe, but it would not do for the little company 
of colonists to show that they were afraid, and Governor Brad- 
ford stuffed the snakeskin full of powder and bullets and sent it 
back with the message, " If you want fighting, come whenever you 
like, and we will give you enough of it." Canonicus, chief of the 
Narragansetts, knew that powder and bullets did much damage 
in some mysterious way, and he was afraid to have the dangerous 
things about. He contrived to have them taken away from his 
Jands, and for a long time there was no trouble with the Narra- 



PLYMOUTH 



SD 



gansetts. Other tribes threatened the colony, but the valiant 
Miles Standish went out with his 

" Great, invincible army, 
Twelve men, all equipped, having each his rest and his matchlock," 

and came back victorious. 

Plymouth was five hundred miles from the nearest English 
settlement, and three thousand miles from its king, but the colo- Town meet- 
nists seemed to get along very well without a king. Whenever ^"^ 
they needed to decide any important question, they held a meet- 
ing to talk it over. Then they voted, and the matter was decided 
as the greater number wished. This assembly was the beginning 
of the New England town meetings of to-day. 

In England there had often been such wild revelings on Christ- 
mas and other church holidays that the Pilgruns had decided 
to make no differ- 
ence between these 
days and others. 
After a while, some 
people joined the 
Plymouth colony 
who did not agree 
with this decision ; 
and on Christmas 
morning, when the 
governor called the 
men out to work as 

usual, they said it went against their consciences to work on Christmas in 
Christmas Day. " Very well," said the governor, " no one shall V^*^^ 
force you to act against your consciences, and I will spare you 
until you are better informed." At noon, the governor found 
these men having a fine time playing ball and other games. He 
stood looking at them a moment ; then he said, " It goes against 




GOVERNOR BRADFOKD DEFIES THE NAKRACiANSETTS 




eo OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

your consciences to work, but it goes against my conscience to 
see you play while others Y»^ork ; so if you wish to keep Christmas 
,,^— jx> "'"^X^^-- ^'im^m as a church day, go to your own 

'" - ' U5i:^:i K i^Q|2ses." He took away their 

ball, and they gave up their at- 
tempt to celebrate Christmas. 
Such was the Pilgrim's stern view 

of life. 

Though the Pilgrims suffered 

'ty'i^'-W^mi^^ greatly during the early years 

_ ^ -_-.'- j.^#^"'"^^' of the colony, they never thought 

MILES sTANDisH's ARMY of Icavlug the couutry, as they 

might have, had they come merely to seek their fortunes. When 
Why the Pil- trouble came to Plymouth, the Pilgrims would say, "We have 
come here to worship God in freedom, and He will not forget us. 
This is why the Pilgrims were never discouraged, and why they 
were happy in spite of all their hardships. 

SUMMARY. 

Persecution in England drove the Pilgrims to Holland and then to America. 
They founded a settlement at Plymouth, but more than half the colonists 

died the first winter. 
The neighboring Indians were friendly, and the white men were victorious 

over the hostile tribes. 
The Pilgrims cultivated the ground instead of searching for gold. 
The New England town meeting originated in the Plymouth assembly for 

the discussion of important questions. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

What the last body of explorers reported to the Pilgrims waiting on the 

Mayflower. 
The best way to celebrate Forefathers' Day. 
One of the older children tells Peregrine White about leaving England. 



»rims were 
aappy 



THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 



61 



VII 

THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 



One day some Puritans were talking of what the Pilgrims 

had done to find a home where they could worship God as they The Puritans 

thought right. Some one suggested, " Would it not be well for Pl^"^ settle- 

° ° merit 

us also to make a settlement in America?" The longer they 

talked, the more interested they became in the plan. Then they 
wrote to several of their Puritan friends in different parts of the 
country, and a number of them agreed to 
unite in forming a colony. 

The Pilgrims were not rich people, and they 
had been obUged to borrow money to carry 
them to America, but many of the Puritans 
were wealthy, and every year their party in 
England was becoming stronger. They 
formed the Massachusetts Bay Company 
and bought of the Plymouth Company what i 
is now the greater part of Massachusetts. 
They induced King Charles, son and suc- 
cessor of King James, to give them a char- 
ter, allowing them to make laws for the 
colony. Only one year after the Mttle com- 
pany of friends had talked about America, 
a shipload of Puritans were ready to cross the ocean. They 
landed north of Boston, and settled at a place to which they gave Founding of 
the name Salem. "Salem" is a Bible word meaning peace, and ^^^^^ 
they hoped that here they would find peace. 




KING CHARLES I 



62 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Com- 
pany moves 
to America 



Puritans 
with John 
Winthrop 
found 
Boston 



The Puritans in England were becoming more and more 
troubled. King Charles meant to rule the country just as he 
chose without the least regard to what any one else thought, and 
he was so untruthful that no one could trust his promises. Some 
people began to fear that there would be war between those who 
stood by the king and those who were against him. No one knew 
how such a war might end. If the king should win, he would be 
more opposed to the Puritans than ever ; but if they had flourish- 
ing colonies in America, there 
would be one place where they 
could live in safety. In the 
king's charter not a word had 
been said about where theMas- 
sachusetts Company should 
hold their meetings. They 
decided to hold them, not in 
England, but beside Massa- 
chusetts Bay. It is quite 
possible that the king knew 
nothing about their decision 
until they had gone. Even 
then, he did not object, and it 
may be that he was glad to 
have so many who did not 
agree with him go out of the 
country. 

A little later the English 
Puritans were pleased and encouraged, because John Winthrop, a 
man whom they greatly respected, said that he would go to Amer- 
ica. He was not only rich and well educated, but he was so wise 
that almost all who knew him felt that whatever he advised was 
the best thing to do. He set out in 1630 with a great company of 




THE NEW ENGLAND COAST SETTLEMENTS 



THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 



63 




ARRIVAL OF THE WINTHROP COLONY IN BOSTON 
(From W. F. Halsall's painting) 

nearly one thousand persons. They brought cattle, goats, pro- 
visions, arms, tools, and farming implements. Several ships were 
needed to carry so many people, and among them was the May- 
flower, that had brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth, and had also 
taken the settlers to Salem. Governor Winthrop and his party 
decided to make their home where Boston now is. They called 
the place Boston, because many of the colonists came from Boston 
in England. 

These people had been accustomed to living in comfort, and in 
spite of all their careful preparations the first winter was almost Early hard* 
as hard for them as it had been for the other colonists. Provi- ^ '^^ 
sions became scarce, and Governor Winthrop was obliged to 
appeal to the Pilgrims for help. A generous supply of food came 
from Plymouth, When that was gone, he asked the people of 
Boston to spend a certain day in fasting and prayer that God 



64 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Content- 
ment of the 
Puritans 




WINTHROP CUP 

(Given by Winthrop 

to the First Church, 

Boston) 



Puritan 
narrowness 



would help them. The help came, for a ship laden with pro- 
visions sailed into the harbor, and instead of fasting, they kept a 
day of thanksgiving. 

The lives of the Puritans were hard, but nevertheless Governor 
Winthrop wrote to England that he had never felt more contented 
than in Massachusetts. Another governor of the colony wrote 
home to his Puritan friends that if they wished to make money, 
Massachusetts was not the place for them ; but if they wished to 
have plenty of wood to burn and to build their houses with, pure 
air to breathe, good water to drmk, ground to plant, seas and 
rivers to fish in, and if, above all, they wished to be free 
to worship God as they thought right, all these good 
things were waiting for them in Massachusetts. 

Governor Winthrop was so honest and truthful in all 
his dealings with the Indians that they called him " Single 
Tongue," meaning that he never told two stories about 
anything. He was always ready to do a kindness. It 
was reported to him one day that a poor man was stealing 
his wood, and he declared sternly, " I '11 soon put a stop 
to that " ; but to the poor man he said, " Friend, I fear 
that you have not wood enough for the winter. Help 
yourself from my pile whenever you choose." Then he 
went to his informer and said, " Did n't I tell you I would put a 
stop to it ? Find him stealing if you can ! " 

The great fault of the Puritans was that they could not under- 
stand how any one else could be as earnest as they in wishing to 
serve God and yet not go about it in the Puritan way. They had 
borne a great deal for the sake of hving as they believed right, 
and they meant to govern the new land as they thought best, and 
to allow no one to stay among them who did not agree with their 
ideas. They had town meetings like those of the Plymouth peo- 
ple, but they would let only members of their church vote. 



THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 



65 



The ship that brought them food when they were in such great 
need brought also a talented young clergyman named Roger Roger Wil- 
Williams. He too wished to serve God, but he had some ideas '^^"^^ 
that seemed to the Puritans very wrong. He said that King 
Charles had no right to give away the land of the Indians unless 
they were willmg. "What would the king say to that?" whis- 
pered the colonists to one another. " He might even take away 
our charter." Still worse, Roger Williams de- 
clared that it was not right to compel a man 
to attend church or to pay for the support of 
a church against his will. -^ ' '^'' 

The Puritans did not wish to be obliged -^ 
to attend the Episcopal Church, but they - t^ 
did wish to oblige whoever came to 
Boston to attend their church. It 
would not do to have such ideas as 
Roger Williams's in their colony, 
they thought, and they told him 
that the following spring he must 
leave Massachusetts. John Win- 
throp contrived to send word to 
him that they were intending to 
send him back to England ; so 
instead of waiting for spring, he 

went away from the colony in . -^'^,^_;j,^^-ir^ 

the bitterly cold weather. The first town house in boston, less 

tale of his life in the forest in snow and storm will be told in the 
story of the founding of Rhode Island. 

To have their children grow up without good schools was some- 
thing that the Puritans could not bear. At first the parents Harvard 
taught their children at home as well as people who were so busy founded 
could teach, but only five years after the settlement in the wilder- 




OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




John Har- 
vard 



John Eliot 
teaches the 
Indians 



ness was begun, a public school was opened in Boston. Many of 
the Puritans were graduates of English universities, and they 
wished to make sure that when their ministers died other educated 
men would be ready to fill the vacant places. They talked the 
matter over in town meeting, and finally, in 1636, 
they agreed to give four hundred pounds 
to found a college. 

At that time spending public money for 
instruction was very unusual in Europe. 
This generous appropriation shows how 
much the Puritans cared for education. 
They used to go to the college to hear the 
boys declaim in Latin and in Greek, and 
when one did especially well, his father was 
happy, and he would say to himself, " Per- 
haps my son will some day be a minister 
and preach in our church." 

A clergyman named John Harvard died 
soon after the college was founded, and when his will was read 
it was found that he had left his books and half his money to 
the new school. The name " Harvard " was given in his honor. 
There were other gifts. The state gave a year's rent of a ferry. 
Plymouth and the other settlements that began to be scattered 
through New England were ready to help, and once each family 
gave a peck of corn or its value in wampum. A law was soon 
made that in every Puritan village of fifty families there must 
be a school; and if there were one hundred families, a school- 
master must be engaged who could prepare the boys of the town 
for the university. 

Another reason why the college was founded was that the 
Indians might have an opportunity to be educated and to learn 
Christianity. A clergyman named John Eliot was especially 



JOHN HARVARD 

(From French's statue in Cambridge) 



THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 



67 



the Indians 



interested in them. He not only preached, but he translated the 
Bible into their language. He did even more ; he lived in the 
wigwams and taught the Indians as if they were his children, 
and tried his best to answer all the questions that they asked. 
Some of these questions were not easy. " If the soul is shut up 
in iron," said they, "can it get out?" Another question was, 
" When you vote and make a man your governor, how do you 
know that he will be a good governor ? " Another was, "" Ought 
a wise man to obey an unwise chief ?" 

John Eliot was never weary of helping them in every way that 
he could. He taught the women to spin, and he showed the men Progress of 
better ways of tilling the ground. Many Indians learned to read 
and write English, and finally one of them delighted the Puritans 
by graduating at Harvard. 

Life was growing a little easier for the settlers. There was 
plenty of food, they had schools and a college, and they had 
sent away Roger Williams, whose ideas about the church dif- 
fered from their own. Their next trouble came from the 
Quakers. The Quaker idea of what was right and what was 
wrong sometimes differed greatly not only from the Puritan 
idea, but from that of all the other English people : for in- 
stance, a Quaker would not take off his hat even to the king, 
because he thought that to do so would be showing to man a 
reverence which belonged to God alone. Other people thought 
that this refusal showed scorn of the king's authority, and 
the village of Boston was much alarmed when it was known 
that a few Quakers had come from England. 

These early Quakers were so different from those of later 
days, and even from those who lived in Boston soon after 
these times, that it seems as if their minds must have been 
unbalanced by the persecutions in England. They certainly 
did strange things. One man forced his way into the court and 




QUAKER JDKESS 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Quakers accused the judge of putting innocent men to death. Anothei 
Puritans went into the church with a glass bottle in .each hand, and in 
the midst of the service broke the bottles before the people, and 
cried, " Thus will the Lord break you all in pieces." 

The Puritans banished them, but they refused to stay away, for 
they said that they should obey God rather than man, and God 
wished them to preach to the people of Massachusetts. Then they 
were imprisoned or whipped or branded with hot irons. These 
penalties were brutal, but they were less severe than those in- 
flicted in England upon men who disobeyed the laws, 
for wliile to-day a man is hanged only for wilful mur- 
der or for treason, there were then in England two 
hundred offenses for which one might lose his life. 
Blnally, four Quakers who returned a second and even 
a third time after being ordered to stay away were put 
to death. The Puritans wrote to the king that these 
four were hanged because they persisted in refusing to 
obey the laws of the colony. This was true, but if the 
Puritans had not been quite so sure that their belief 
was the only right one, it may be that they would have 
had more charity for the Quakers and would not have 
-- made such severe laws against them. 
,u,j In 1675, almost twenty years after the coming of 
the Quakers, there was a terrible war between In- 
dians and colonists. Massasoit was always true to 
the English; but after he was dead, his son, "King 
Philip," as he was called, had different ideas. Many more white 
King men had come, little villages were everywhere, and Philip felt 

Philip's War ^^^^ .^ ^^^ English were not driven out at once, the country 
would be lost to the Indians. He persuaded other tribes to join 
him, and they made fierce attacks upon one village after another 
in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. In Massa- 




fr 



THE PILLORY 
(One of the Puritan pun- 
ishments) 



THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY 




I 



chusetts more than half the towns were either partly or wholly 
destroyed. One thousand men and large numbers of women and 
children were slaia. 

At last King PhiUp was besieged at Mount Hope in Rhode Death of ^ 
Island. One of his men advised him to surrender, but Philip was ^^"^ Philip 
so angry that he struck the man dead in a moment. Tn 
revenge, the dead man's brother crept away to the whites, 
and told them where to find his chief. PhUip was slain, 
and his head was fastened to a pole and set up on the 
green in Plymouth. After this war, southern New 
England had no more trouble from the Indians. 

When the Puritans had been in America more than 
half a century, they became greatly alarmed, becau se 
they believed that there were witches among them, 
and witches were thought to be special friends of 
Satan. Some nervous girls played various pranks, 
and declared, probably more in fun than in 
earnest, that they could not help it, for they 
were "bewitched." When they saw that the 
matter was taken seriously, it is very likely that 
they became so excited that they could not con- 
trol themselves, and began to believe their own stories. These Witchcraft 
girls and others began to point out those who had bewitched 
them, and before the colonists came to their senses, nineteen inno- 
cent people had been hanged. 

All over Europe people thought that there was such a thing as 
witchcraft. A century before the Puritans crossed the ocean, five 
hundred persons were put to death in three months on the charge 
of being witches. Fifty years after this alarm in Massachusetts 
a new law was made against them in England, and many people 
were executed. 




KING PHILIP 
(After Paul Kevere's picture) 



70 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

SUMMARY. 

English Puritans formed the Massachusetts Bay Company to insure them 

a refuge in time of persecution and a place for freedom of worship. 
Under the leadership of John Winthrop they founded Boston in 1630. 
They did not wish Lo have any one in the colony whose belief differed 

from theirs ; therefore they drove away Roger Williams, and later the 

Quakers. 
Harvard College was founded in 1636 to educate both whites and Indians. 

John Eliot did much good as a missionary to the Indians. 
King Philip's War in 1675 caused many deaths and was the last of the 

Indian troubles in southern New England. 
The Puritans executed nineteen persons for supposed witchcraft. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A Puritan tells a friend why he wishes to go to New England. 

The reply of the Pilgrims to Winthrop's appeal for food. 

King Philip tells his men why he wishes to make war upon the whites. 



VIII 

MAINE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, RHODE ISLAND, AND 
CONNECTICUT 

MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

When the Indian Squanto, who was so good a friend to the 
The kidnap- Pilgrims, was a young man, he lived on the coast of what is now 
Sauanto called Maine. One day a ship came to anchor near the shore, and 
the Indians paddled out in their birch-bark canoes to see the white 
men and sell furs to them. Squanto and four others were seized 
and carried away across the ocean, for the captain thought that 
after they had learned Enghsh they could be brought back and 



MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE 



71 



made to serve as interpreters when the white men wished to 
trade. 

It was an unpardonable crime. The only good thing about the 
whole story was that these five Indians were very kindly treated Squanto in 
in England. Squanto and two others were taken into the family ^"8'^"^ 
of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who was a friend of Sir Walter 
Raleigh. Sir Ferdinando was only a few years older than the 
Indians, and he was much interested in them. It was not long 
before they could talk with him, and they told him so much about 
their friends and their home, the clear air, the pure water, and 
the great forests, that Sir Ferdinando and others began to be 
eager to found a colony. 

Sir Ferdinando had no trouble in finding sailors who would 
go to Maine and bring back a 




Attempts to 
found a 
colony in 
Maine 



THE BEAVER 
(An Important New England fur-bearer) 



cargo of fish or furs, but colo- 
nizing was a different matter, 
for the men who first tried 
to make a settlement had re- 
ported that the place was too 
cold to live in. StiU he was 
not discouraged. He sent out 
ship after ship to fish and to 
trade, and finally he persuaded one captain, who was also a phy- 
sician, to spend the ^vinter near where Saco now stands. This 
captam went home in the spring and said that the climate was 
perfect, and that not one of his men had even had a headache. 

A few years after John Smith returned to England from James- 
town, he sailed as captain of one of Sir Ferdinando's vessels. John Smith 
Sixteen men were with him who had agreed to become colonists, ^8^*" 
and with such a leader to help and advise them, it is probable 
that they would have succeeded ; but wherever John Smith went, 
he met with adventures, and so it was on this trip. England and 



72 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




Dover and 
Portsmouth 



France were at war, and a French vessel took the captain and his 
sixteen men prisoners, and carried them to France. 

Still Sir Ferdinando did not give up. He united with a brave, 
resolute man, Captain John Mason, who had been in Newfound- 
land and was not afraid of the cold weather of Maine. These two 
men and others who joined with them pubUshed glowing descrip- 
tions of the new country. They said the climate was the most 
delightful in the world, the soil was so rich that generous har- 
vests could be raised with little work, the forests were full of 
fur-bearing animals, and the great trees were the best timber 
for ship- building that could be found. Besides all this, the 
bays and the rivers were swarming with fish. 

Colonists began to go to the new province, which was after- 
wards named Maine, or the mainland. The colonies were 
hardly more than fishing stations, and were 
scattered about over the southwestern 
corner of what is now Maine, and the 
^5* eastern part of what is now New Hamp- 
It is probable that the first settle- 
ment in Maine was made at Pemaquid 
Point in 1625. This soon became a 
busy place. Indians who had furs to 
sell came to Pemaquid, and ships came 
from England not only to bring tools 
and other things that the colonists 
needed, but to carry back to England lumber and furs, and the 
fish that had been caught and cured. The Pilgrims were culti- 
vating corn, and they used to send boatloads of it to Pemaquid to 
exchange for furs. The earliest settlements in New Hampshire 
were made at Dover, 1623-1627, and at Portsmouth in 1631. 

1 This brick structure, still standing, was erected in 1729 on the site of the 
wooden building mentioned on page 73, of which there is no picture. 



ill shire. 







THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE * 



MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE 



73 




After a while Sir Ferdinando and Captain Mason concluded to The colony 
divide their land; the former took Maine, and the latter took the ^^' ^ 
land to the west of the Piscataqua River. Captain Mason was 
once governor of a town in Hampshire, England, and in memory 
of this he named his land New Hampshire. How far west this 
land extended was uncertain, and what is now called 
Vermont was claimed at times by both New 
Hampshire and New York. 

In 1641 the few scattered settlements 
in New Hampshire asked the protection 
of the Massachusetts Bay colony. As 
for Maine, after Sir Ferdinando died, his 
grandson offered to sell the land to the 
English king, Charles II. The king was a 
little slow in giving his answer, but 
Massachusetts was quick, and before 
Charles II. had decided whether he could 
raise the money or not, Massachusetts 
had bought the land and paid for it. The king was angry that Maine joined 
a colony should dare to do such a thing as to buy land that he chusetts 
wished to have. Boston wrote him a letter saying that she was 
sorry to have displeased his Majesty, but she made no offer to 
give back the purchase. One man in Boston wrote indignantly 
to a friend in England that the king's letter was worth no more 
in Massachusetts than an old London newspaper. 

This was hardly true, but it was true that more than once 
when the king had made a law which would injure the colony, 
Massachusetts had quietly disobeyed it. More than that, the 
Puritans would not aUow the Episcopal Church in their colony, 
and this did much to arouse the wrath of the king. Charles sent Massachu- 
over and demanded their charter. The Puritans held a town her charter 
meeting in the Old South Meeting-House, and every man voted 



BLOCKHOUSE IN MAINE 

(Built near the junction of the Kennebec and 

Sebastlcook rivers) 



74 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



not to return it. Then the king declared that whether the char- 

ter was in England or in America, it should no longer hold good. 

He planned to send over one of the most cruel, hard-hearted men 

in England as governor ; but before tliis could be done, the king 

died. The charter, however, no longer had any value. 

New Hampshire had been made a " royal province," and now 

New Hamp- the new king declared that Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Maine 

Massachu- should form another. These colonies could no longer choose their 

setts royal own officers, but must be ruled by whatever governor the king 
provinces , , , 

chose to send them. 



RHODE ISLAND. 

When Roger Williams was ordered to leave Massachusetts, the 
court told him that he might remain 
until spring. They thought that he 
would keep still if they showed him so 
much favor ; but instead of keepmg still, 
he preached oftener than ever. Then 
the court said he must be taken to Eng- 
land, and a boat was sent to Salem to 
bring him to Boston. However, when 
the officers landed in Salem, Roger AVil- 
hams was nowhere to be found. Some 
one had warned him secretly, and he had 
slipped away. The one who warned 
him was, as has been said, no less a man 
than John Winthrop, and with the warn- 
ing had come the advice to go to the 
Indians about Narragansett Bay, because that place was free 
from any English claim. 
Roger Wil- It was a cold, snowy night when the message came, but there 
Salem ^^^^^ ^^^ no time to lose, so Roger Williams said good-by to his wife 




* '— r;-..«l;-i-- ^^ III) B' ■ 

FIRST MEETING-HOUSE IN SALEM 
(Where Roger Williams is said to have preached) 



RHODE ISLAND 75 

and children, took his staff, and went out bravely into the wilder- 
ness. When he was an old man, he said he could " feel yet " the 
winter snow of that journey. 

For more than three months he lived in the forest. Sometimes 
he had a guide, but oftener he found his way alone as best he His wander* 
might. Sometimes he slept in a hollow tree; often he had no ^"^^ 
fire. He had friends in the forest, however, for he had always 
been kind to the IncUans and had learned their language. They 
were glad to repay his kindness, and when he came to the wig- 
wam of Massasoit, there was a warm welcome awaiting him. 
Canonicus, too, the fierce warrior who had sent to Plymouth the 
bundle of arrows bound together with a rattlesnake's skin, gave 
him tender greeting, and " loved him as a son." 

Possibly Roger Williams had no thought of founding a colony. 
He had always cared for the Indians, and now that the whites Providence 
would not listen to him, perhaps he meant to live among the red '^^^'^^^ 
men and teach them. Five friends came to him from Massachu- 
setts, however, and they paddled down the Providence River in 
search of a place to settle. Some Indians saw them and called 
out in friendly welcome, " What cheer ? What cheer ? " an old- 
fashioned form of greeting that they had learned from the whites. 
He ran ashore and had a little talk with these Indians. Prob- 
ably they told him of a good place for his house, at the foot of 
a hill near a spring of water. This was in 1636, and was the 
beginning of the city of Providence, so called because, as Roger 
Williams said, it was by the providence of God that he had made 
his way thither. 

The exile's wife and children soon came to him. Governor 
Winslow of Plymouth visited him and gave him a piece of gold. Growth of 
The Puritans wished people to worship God in their way ; Roger ^^^ colony 
Williams wished every one that came to his colony to be free to 
worship God in any way that he thought right. Before two years 



76 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Rhode 

Island and 
Providence 
Plantations 



The New 

England 

Confederacy 



Rhode 
Island asks 
for a charter 



had passed, many had come. He was in the country of the Narra- 
gansetts, and Canonicus was glad to sell his friend what land he 
wanted for a colony. 

Among those who came from Massachusetts was a company 
that meant to go farther south, but Roger Williams urged them 
to stay near him, and Canonicus was willing to sell them the Isle 
of Rhodes, or Rhode Island. The two colonies made a kind of 
agreement to help each other. That is why the 
smallest state in the Union has the longest name, 
for the name that must be used in legal documents 
is " State of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- 
tions." 

This tiny state was almost the only place in the 
world where some one form of worship was not 
favored. It is no wonder that people with all kinds 
of ideas came to settle beside Narragansett Bay. It 
has been said that " if a man had lost his religious 
opinions, he might have been sure to find them again 
in some village of Rhode Island." ^ 

A few years later, Massachusetts, Plymouth, 
Connecticut, and New Haven agreed to defend one 
another if there was need, Rhode Island would 
have been glad to join the league, but the others 
said this could not be unless the colony would be- 
come a part of either Massachusetts or Plymouth. Maine, too, 
was shut out, because the laws of Maine favored the Episcopal 
Church. 

It seemed impossible for the little state to stand alone without 

some protection, and the Rhode Islanders sent Roger Williams to 

England to ask for a charter. The story of what he had done for 

the Indians had gone before him, and the Enghsh government 

1 Bancroft's History of the United States. 




Sii nil 
ROGER WILLIAMS 
(From the statue In 



Provlderfe) 



CONNECTICUT 77 

willingly gave him a charter, allowing the Rhode Island colonists 
freedom to make whatever laws they thought best and to choose 
their own governor and other officers. Roger Williams crossed 
the ocean again, happy in the news that he was bringing to the 
colony. When he came to the bank of the river that flowed by 
his house, he saw that the whole shore was lined with canoes, for 
the people of Providence had all come out to welcome the man 
whom they respected and loved. His canoe was placed in the 
midst, and so they paddled to the farther shore. 

It is no wonder that they welcomed him, for Roger Williams Roger Wil- 
was one of the most lovable men that appear in all the colonial ^^^^ ^ ^ ' 
history. The Puritans had driven him into the wilderness, and 
then had made him lose many thousand pounds by forbidding him 
to send goods from the port of Boston to England, but even of 
them he had not a hard word to say, and when the opportunity 
came to do them a favor, he did it as eagerly as if they had been 
his warmest friends. 

CONNECTICUT. 

A colony that is only sixteen years of age seems hardly old 
enough to begin to found other colonies, but this is just what English in- 
Massachusetts did. Not long after the coming of the Puritans, oll^the^Con-^ 
the chief of the country along the Connecticut River had asked necticut 
both Massachusetts and Plymouth to send Enghshmen to settle 
on his lands. Some of the colonists began to tliink of going there 
to trade. It was an especially good place, for the Indians could 
much more easily float down the stream with their canoes full of 
furs than they could make their way through the forest and bring 
the furs on their backs. 

The English were not the only ones who saw that it was worth 
while to get possession of this valuable river. The Dutch were Trouble with 
settled in New York, and they had forts in New Jersey. They too Dutch 



78 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



■wished to hold the Connecticut. The Plymouth people thought 
that the English had a better right to the territory than the Dutch, 
and a few of them set out for the mouth of the river. They 
carried with them the frame of a house, and, although the Dutch 
threatened to fire upon them from the fort at Hartford, kept on 
up the river. When they were where Windsor now is, they set 
up their house, and began to trade for furs as calmly as if there 

was not a Dutchman 





INDIAN FUR-TRADEKS 



in the land. Others 

came, the Dutch were 

driven out, and in 

Hartford, the very 

-^ place where the Dutch 

'"■ fort had stood, there 

was soon a small com- 

i pany of Englishmen. 

I It was a hard win- 

^ J ter, and it may be 

that report made the- 

Puritans de- sufferings of the settlers even worse than they really were, foi 

in ConnectU s^'^^i"^! hundred people who lived near Boston were thinking 

cut about moving to Connecticut, and the other colonists did not wish 

to have them leave Massachusetts. Those who wished to go said 

that the towns in Massachusetts were so near together that there 

was not pasture for their cattle. " But you have made a solemn 

promise to support and aid our commonwealth," said the court. 

" That is true," answered they, " but how better can we support 

it than by keeping both the Dutch and the EngHsh who do 

not think as we do from settling so near us ? " There was also 

another reason for moving, but little was said about it. In the 

Massachusetts colonies no one was allowed to vote who was not 

a member of the Puritan church ; and most of the people who 



CONNECTICUT 



79 



wished to move to Connecticut thought that every man should 
have a right to vote. At last the court agreed that they might go. 

The first settlers were led by their pastor, Thomas Hooker, of 
Cambridge. There were about one hundred in this company, and A forest 
they must have had a delightful journey. It was June. The J^^^'^^y 
trees were green, and the flowers were in bloom. Through the 
forest they went, making their beds of the boughs of trees, sleep- 
ing under the stars, and waking to the singmg of birds. Two 
weeks they spent on the journey, and it must have seemed al- 
most Uke a picnic two weeks long. There was no fear of hun- 
ger, for before them they drove one hundred and sixty cattle, 
and there was sure to be plenty of milk, even if all other food 
failed. 

These were the people who in 1636 founded Hartford. Others Settlements 
came, and within a few months Wethersfield and Windsor were established 
settled by colonists from other towns near Bos- 
ton. A few people had come to these places 
before, but until 1636 there were not enough to 
call their coming the founding of a town. 

Three years later the three towns formed a 
union and decided upon the laws that should 
govern them. These laws allowed every man 
to vote, whether he was a member of the church 
or not. There was one thing that would cer- 
tainly have aroused the king's wrath if he had 
not been too busy to pay any attention to it, 
and this was that these laws did not even 
mention his Majesty. Evidently the Connecticut settlers thought 
that they could manage their own affairs without any help from 
the king. 

Before the colonists were fairly settled in their new home, there 
was trouble with the Pequots. These Indians did not make any 




FIRST MEETINPt-HOUSE IN 
HARTFORD 



80 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Roger Wil- general attack, but they would come as near the settlement as 
thePurftans ^^^^ <i^red., and seize one man or a small group of men and put 
them to death. Roger Williams learned that the Pequots were 
trying to persuade the Narragansetts to join them in making' war 
upon the whites. He did not stop to remember how Massachu- 
setts had treated him, but without a moment's delay he sent 
word to Governor Winthrop of the danger. He did much more 
than to send a message. He knew that the Pequots would try 
to persuade the Narragansetts to join them; and in wild, stormy 

weather he paddled his canoe 



In the wig- 
wam of Ca- 
nonicus 



NEW H A M P. 




across Narragansett Bay, and 
went straight to the wigwam 
of Canonicus. There stood the 
Pequot messengers, and Ca- 
nonicus was on the point of 
yielding. 

They knew why Roger Wil- 
liams had come. They glared 
at him angrily, and would have 
killed him if they had dared. 
Canonicus, too, would have 
killed any other man who had 
come so boldly into his wig- 
wam ; but he was very fond of 
Roger WUliams, and he listened closely to what he had to say. 
It was several days before the chief would decide. Roger Wil- 
liams talked, and the Pequots talked. When they lay down to 
sleep at night, the white man hardly expected to be ahve in the 
morning. At last Canonicus told the Pequots that he would not 
unite with them. 

The Pequots decided to make war without help, and all through 
the winter they put to death every colonist that they could seize. 



CONNECTICUT VALLEY SETTLEilENTb 



CONNECTICUT 



81 




Then Connecticut appealed to Massachusetts and Plymouth for The Pequot 

War 
help. Near where Stonington, Connecticut, now stands was a 

Pequot village. Around it was a stout palisade, or fence of tree 

trmiks set close 

together in the 

_^ ground. There 

MATCHLOCK AND REST WCTC but tWO 

openings, and those were very narrow. The colonists closed 
them and threw lighted torches over the paUsades. The wig- 
wams blazed, and out of seven hundred Pequots only five escaped. 
For nearly forty years no Indians dared to attack the English. 

One month after this terrible fight, New Haven was founded, 
in 1638. Hartford had been settled by men who thought the Founding ol 
Bostonians were too strict. New Haven was settled by a com- 
pany from England who feared that Boston was not strict enough. 
This company was made up chiefly of wealthy merchants; and 
just as the Reverend Thomas Hooker had led his church to Hart- 
ford, so the Reverend John Davenport led his church to New 
Haven. Boston would have been glad to have them stay in Mas- 
sachusetts, but they had landed just after the banishment of 
Roger Wilhams, when Boston 
seemed to be full of new opinions, 
and religious matters were being 
discussed more freely than Dav- 
enport thought was right; and 
that is why he made his way 
through the forest to Connecticut. 
He paid the Indians ten coats for 
a piece of land on the coast, and 
there he founded New Haven. 

From ahnost the first Connecticut had good schools, for these 
people were as eager as those in Massachusetts for the education 




A NEW ENGLAND STOCKADE 



82 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Education in of their children. In 1700 ten men from tlie different settlements 

onnecticut ^^^^^^ together to found a college. Each laid a few books on a 

table and said, "I give these books for the founding of a college 

in this colony." This little pile of books was the beginning of 

Yale CoUege. 

The Connecticut valley being fertile, there was plenty of 

food. The laws were 
strict, but no man was 
persecuted for thinking 
what he would on re- 
ligious subjects. It 
was a quiet, happy, 
peaceful country, and 
later it was nicknamed 
''The Land of Steady- 
Habits." 

When Massachusetts,, 
Plymouth, and Maine 
were united as a royal 
province, the first governor was determined to seize the charter 
of Connecticut, and he went to Hartford with a company of sol- 
diers to get possession of it. He and the Connecticut officials 
discussed the matter all one afternoon. The governor would not 
yield, and at last the charter was brought in and placed upon a 
table. It grew dark and candles were lighted. Then, tradition 
The Charter says, the candles were suddenly put out, and when they were 
lighted again, no charter was to be seen. Long afterwards, Con- 
necticut presented one Captain Wadsworth with a sum of money, 
saying that he had cared for the charter " in a very troublesome 
season." It is thought that he hid it in an oak-tree, and a tree in 
lartford which fell half a century ago was often pointed out as 
the *■' Charter Oak " in which the charter was concealed. 




HOUSE WHERE YALE COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED 
(It was the home of Kev. Samuel Russell, in Branford, Conn.) 



Oak 



EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 83 



SUMMARY. 

Maine and New Hampshire. The kidnapping of Squanto aroused the inter- 
est of Sir Ferdinando Gorges in Maine. 

Gorges and Mason made their first settlements at Pemaquid Point in Maine 
and Portsmouth in New Hampshire. 

Massachusetts bought Maine from Gorges, and Maine, Massachusetts Bay, 
and Plymouth were united in one crown colony. 

Rhode Island. Roger Williams, driven from Massachusetts, was befriended 
by the Indians. He founded Providence in 1636, and gave religious 
freedom to all who came. A company from Massachusetts settled 
Rhode Island, and Williams obtained a charter from the king. 

Connecticut. Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford were settled from 
Massachusetts, in spite of the claims of the Dutch. 

They were quiet, peaceful colonies, save for the war with the Pequots. 
They established schools and Yale College. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Squanto tells Sir Ferdinand about his capture. 

Describe Roger Williams's setting out into the forest. 

Describe the Connecticut colonists traveling through the forest. 

Describe the scene when Roger Williams entered the wigwam of Canonicua 



IX 

EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 

When a settler comes to a new land, his first thought is to 
make some kind of shelter for himself. The first houses m New 
England were built of logs, for wood was. plenty and easy to 
work. The chinks between the logs were filled with chips and 
clay. Glass was expensive, and in the earliest days oiled paper 



84 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The first 
houses in 
New Eng- 
land 



was used for windows. Since wood was to be had for the cut- 
ting, the fireplaces were made large enough for the great logs 
that were brought in from the forest. There was plenty of heat, 
but so large a share of it went up the chimney that people cannot 
have been very comfortable, according to our ideas of comfort. 

It was the custom to "bank up " the house for winter, that is, 
to pile up a bank of earth around it to keep out the cold. 

Stoves were not used until long 
after the Pilgrims came, and they 
cannot have been very good, 
for one writer of those days 
said that he could hardly 
keep his ink from freezing, 
even when it was close 
beside the stove. There 
was no way of heating the 
meeting-houses. Babies 
only a few days old were 
brought into these frigid 
buildings to be baptized 
with water in which the 
ice had to be broken. Wo- 
men sometimes carried 
little foot-stoves, which cannot have given out much warmth ; and 
there the people sat through the long sermons. They would have 
thought themselves exceedingly wicked if any discomfort had 
made them wish to go home. 

In the house the important place was the kitchen. There was 
The kitchen the great fireplace with its iron crane, a long arm that stretched 
out over the fire and could be moved back and forth. "Pot- 
hooks" were hung to this, and from these hung kettles. Tin 
**bake-ovens," like small cupboards open at one side, were set up 




AN EARLY SETTLER'S HOUSE 



EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 



85 




A FOOT-STOVE 



before the fire, and in them were baked biscuit ; or on hooks in- 
side pieces of meat were fastened to roast. Strong hooks were 
fixed into the beams that ran across the top of the room. 
Poles were laid on these, and from them strings of dried 
apples or pumpkin were suspended. Sometimes a chain 
hung from these hooks in front of the fire and 
held a turkey or a chicken to be roasted before 
the blaze. "" Brick ovens " were made after a 
while. They were little brick caverns beside 
the fireplaces. A fire was built in the oven, 
and when it was well heated the coals were 
raked out, and the beans and brown bread and chickens and pies 
and cakes were put in to cook. 

The early settlers had stools and benches, but few chairs. 
They ate from wooden " trenchers," or dishes made by hollowing Furniture 
out pieces of wood. Miles Standish bequeathed twelve of these dishes 
trenchers in his will. A trencher generally served for two per- 
sons, and one large drinking cup was enough for a table. There 

were no forks, for they 
had hardly been intro- 
duced into England, 
but there were knives 
and wooden or pewter 
spQons. Pewter dishes 
were looked upon as 
elegance itself, and 
even the poorest house- 
keeper would not have 
dared to risk the scorn 
of her neighbors by 
leaving her pewter un- 

NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN " ^ 

(Sbowtngcraoe, brick oven, and beams in tbe ceiling) SCOUrcd. 




86 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Bedrooms 



The parlor 




TIN DEE BOX 

(Showing curved steel, 

box for tinder, and candle 

in the cover) 



Home man- 
ufactures 



The bedrooms were icy in the cold New England winters, and 
it is no wonder that every household had its long-handled warm- 
ing-pan. This was filled with coals, the cover was shut down, 
and then the pan was drawn back and forth between the sheets. 
Beds and pillows were valuable articles, and even so great a man 
as the governor of a colony did not scorn to make a will that 
bequeathed his daughter a feather bed and a bolster. 

The parlor, or " best room," had no carpet until the later colo- 
nial days, but both it and the kitchen had " sanded " floors ; that 
is, sand was thrown upon the boards, and sometimes so carefully 
as to make almost a regular pattern. As soon as the 
colonists became at all comfortable, every house must have 
a parlor, though it was rarely used except for weddings 
and funerals and the minister's calls. In the summer the 
parlor fireplace was filled with sprays of asparagus, or 
sometimes with laurel leaves. 

In this parlor there was sure to be a corner cupboard, 
a buffet, sometimes with glass doors ; and when the days 
of china came, the rare bits were displayed in the upper part, 
while in the closet below was often the " company cake " and 
the home-made wine. If a member of the family had died, there 
was a " mourning piece " on the waU. This was the picture of a 
gravestone whereon was written the person's name. A woman 
weeping usually bent over the stone, and a drooping willow filled 
one side of the picture, or canvas, for sometimes these " pieces " 
were worked on canvas with silk or worsted. 

The home of the colonist was a real manufactory. There were 
no " department stores " in those days, and few of the settlers had 
much ready money. Flax and wool were spun and woven and 
dyed and made into clothes, all in a man's own house. Stock- 
ings and mittens were knit by hand, and hats were made of 
home-braided straw. Soap was home-made. Butter and cheese 



J 



EARLY CUSTOMS OF NEW ENGLAND 87 




FLAX WHEEL 



were always made at home. To be called a " good butter-hand " 
was a great honor. For lights, the first settlers had pine-knots. 
There was no tallow in the earliest days, so candles were made 

of the beautiful and sweet-smeUing pale green 

bayberry wax. 

The men bore their part in these home manu- The Yankee 
• _ i3.clc-kiiifs 

factures. In farmmg implements wood was used • 

wherever it could be employed, and in the long 
evenings the jack-knives of the masculine part 
of the family were kept busy whittling out teeth 
for rakes, handles for hoes, reels for winding 
yarn, wooden spoons and dishes, tubs, pails, 
buckets, yokes, flails, snowshoes, skimmers, and handles for axes, 
and numberless other things. The men made the brooms, some- 
times of birch twigs and sometimes of hemlock branches. A 
Yankee with his jack-knife could almost furnish a house and a 
barn. 

The children did their part of the work of the house. The 
girls helped their mother, and the boys helped their father. If Self-reliance 
the boys wished for playthings, they made them. If a boy must 
have a basket, he made it of birch bark ; while for paint he used 
elderberry or pigeon berryjuice. A boy who grew up in this 
way learned to depend upon himself, and to know what to do 
if he found himself in any difficulty. 

When the Revolutionary War broke out, these boys 
had become men who were not afraid to try to do 
things they had never done before. They knew little 
about military drill, but they could invent new ways 
of making their attacks, and they could capture forts 
in ways not laid down in the books. In some of the wool spinning wheei 
httle hamlets away from city life, the old customs lingered. 
Many a man born in the middle of tlie nineteenth century ate in his 




88 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

Effect of this boyhood dinners that were cooked in a brick oven, prepared 
training " quills," or pieces of the hollow elder stem, to be wound on the 

little "qnilhng wheel" with yarn for use in the shuttle of his 
mother's loom, and set off for college in a suit of his mother's 
spinning and weaving. These were the kind of boys who knew 
an unearned diploma was not worth the parchment it was written 
on, the kind of boys that the college and the country were proud 
to possess. 

SUMMARY. 

The New England colonists lived in log houses, cooked before open fires, 
had simple furniture and wooden or pewter dishes. 

They manufactured most of their clothes, tools, and household utensils. 

The children learned to be self-reliant, and their training showed in the 
Revolutionary War, 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Describe an evening in a colonial kitchen. Tell what each member of th« 

family was doing. 
Describe a cold day in a colonial house. 



X 

NEW YORK, DELAWARE, AND NEW JERSEY 

About the time when the Pilgrims were planning to leave Eng- 

Henry Hud- land and go to Holland, a company of English merchants were 

making ready to send a ship to search, not for a Northwest Pas- 

, sage, but for a Northeast. They thought there might be a way 

to sail north of Russia, and then south to eastern Asia. They 

chose for the captain of their vessel a friend of John Smith, a 



NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 89 



brave English sailor named Henry Hudson. He set out on the 
voyage, but he had to come back and report that the ice kept him 
from going to Asia. He had been " farthest north," how 
ever, and he found himself famous. 

A Dutch company then induced him to com- 
mand one of their ships. Again the ice pre 
vented him from sailing farther to the north 
east, but he made up his mind to go m seaich 
of the Northwest Passage instead 
of returning to Holland. He had 
with him a letter from John Smith 
saying that he believed the Passage 
might be not far north of Chesa 
peake Bay. One bright September 
morning Hudson sailed into the 
mouth of the river that is named 
for him, though he spoke of it as 
the " River of Mountains." Up the 
stream went the little vessel, the 
Half-Moon, but the water was more 
and more fresh. Still he kept on, 
until just beyond where Albany 
now stands the stream began to 
grow shallow. This was no North- 
west Passage. 

Hudson made another voyage to Hudson Bay and Hudson 
Strait, this time for an English company. His crew rebelled, and Hudson's 
finally turned him and a few others adrift in a small boat, and no '^^^ voyage 
one knows his fate. 

Hudson had called the country about the "River of Moun- 
tains" "as fair a land as can be trodden by the foot of man"; 
but the Dutch were more interested in the thought that the 




THE HALF-MOON LEAVING AMSTERDAM 

(Showing the Weepers' Tower, where mariners took leave 

of their friends) 



90 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Dutch 
traders in 
America 



Beginnings 
of New York 



Settlers on 
Manhattan 
Island 






North River — as they called the stream, smce the Delaware was 
known as the South River — was convenient for the Indians to 
float down with canoes full of furs. Furs could be bought for 
beads, jack-knives, red cloth, and trinkets of various kinds, and 
could be sold in Europe at a high price. It is no wonder that 
Dutch traders hastened to send sliips to America. 

There must be forts to protect the traders, and in 1614 a fort 
was built on Manhattan Island. That was the beginning of the 
city of New York. Another name for Holland was the Nether- 
lands, or the lower 
lands ; and the Dutch 
called their possessions 
in America New Neth- 
erland, just as John 
Smith called the land 
north of them New 
England, and the 
French named the 
land that they claimed 
New France. More 
forts were built, and 
one stood where Albany now is. One of the early writers called 
it " a miserable little fort, built of logs." 

Even if the settlers were protected by " miserable little forts," 
many of them were making fortunes by trading in furs. This 
was a good tiling for the traders, but the Dutch West India Com- 
pany wished to have permanent settlements, and they began to 
think of sending colonists to the Hudson. The Indians were de- 
lighted to sell Manhattan Island for twenty-four dollars' worth of 
beads, brass buttons, ribbons, and red cloth. The settlement 
around the little fort was named New Amsterdam. The settlers 
lived in log houses, one story high, with roofs made of bark. 





FIRST VIEW OF NEW AMSTERDAM 
(Sketched by a Dutch officer in Iffio) 



NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 91 




DUTCH FLAG 



tern 



People came from most of the countries of Europe, To buy 
Turs for beads and sell them for a generous amount of gold was 
an easy way to make a fortune, and after makmg a fortune, the 
next thing was to go back to Europe to spend it. The 
Company discussed the matter, and concluded that farm- 
ers who had been forbidden to deal in furs would be 
the best settlers. There was rich land all along the 
North River, but it paid so much better to trade in furs 
than to manage a farm that the Company knew they 
must make especially good offers to induce people to 
remain farmers. They formed a plan that was entirely different 
from anything that had been attempted in 
America. 

Long before this time it had been the cus- 
tom in various countries of Europe for one Patroon sys 
man to hold a large amount of land, and to 
allow other men to use such parts of it as 
he chose. These men must work for him so 
many days every year, and they could not 
leave one man's land to work for some one 
else. This custom had gone out of use in 
Europe, but the Dutch Company thought it 
might be introduced into America. They 
offered to give sixteen miles of the Hudson 
River shore with an indefinite amount of land 
behind it to any member of the Company who 
would bring fifty settlers to America. 

The owner of tliis land was called a patroon, 
or protector. He must clear the land, build houses and barns, 
and provide cattle and tools. He was to receive as rent a part 
of each crop. The colonists were to be free from paying taxes 
for ten years, but they must agree to remain on his land for 




SETTLEMENTS ABOUT 
THE HUDSON RIVER 



92 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



How New 
Netherland 
was gov- 
erned 



rv^ 



'- ?-" 



that time. The patroon held a court of his own, and had the 
right to punish any one who broke his laws. Indeed, he could 
do just about what he chose except to trade in furs. The Com- 
pany would not give up that right to any one. 

In the New England settlements most of the settlers had the 
same ideas of what was good for the colony, and were ready to 
give up their own wishes for the gain of all. It was not so in 
New Netherlands The Dutch had come to make money, and in 
their -settlement, if a colonist was becoming rich, he did not care 
much what became of the colony. In Massachusetts, even after 
it became a royal province, every member of the church had a 
vote, but New Netherland was ruled by governors sent over by 
the Company. 

Governor Stuyvesant, the last of these governors, was the best 

of them, for though he meant to have 
his own way, he was honest and kept 
the colony in order. Just as Vir- 
ginia had demanded a House of Bur- 
gesses, so the people of New Nether- 
land wished to elect a council of men 
to tell what their taxes should be, and 
to decide how the money should be 
spent. Stuyvesant finally yielded so 
far as to allow them to elect the 
council; but the councilors had no 
power, for he would pound on the 
floor with his wooden leg and tell 
them what was to be done — and it always was done. 

Governor Stuyvesant had in New Amsterdam a great farm, or 

The Bowery bowery, as it was called in Dutch. The lane leading to it was 

Bowery Lane, and even now the street that is where the lane 

used to be is called the Bowery. Before New Amsterdam was 







WALL STKEET PALISADE FROM THE EAST 
EIVER 



and Wall 
Street 



NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 93 

thirty years old, a war broke out between England and Holland ; 
and lest the English should invade the Dutch city. Governor 
Stuyvesant built a stout wooden wall, twelve feet high, directly 
across the island. Where this wall ran is now called Wall Street. 
The Dutch had good reason to fear being driven away by the 
English. Holland said, " We were first in the North River." Dutch and 
England rephed, "Yes, but an Englishman was captain of your ^lafSo 

vessel; and what is more, John Cabot New Nether- 
brought an English ship to America 
more than a century before you 




land 



NEW AMSTERDAM 
(From a Dutch map published in 1650) 



came." " True," retorted the Dutch, " but if our captain was an 
Englishman, yours was an Italian. Moreover, it was your own 
Queen Elizabeth who said that discovery of a land is nothing ; it 
is colonizing that gives a right to the country. We have had men 
here almost ever since Hudson's voyage was made, and the land 
is ours." But the English said, " King James granted this land to 
the London and the Plymouth Companies before Hudson crossed 
the ocean. If Dutchmen come here to settle, we are willing ; but 
they are on our land, and they are subjects of our king." 

The matter was dropped for a time because the English king 
and his people did not get along very well together and were too Swedes in 
busy with their own quarrels to give much time to American ^ aware 
affairs. England left the Dutch in peace for a while, but trouble 
was arising from another direction, and they could not make 
butter and cheese and smoke their pipes in quiet very long. The 
king of Sweden had been eager to found a colony in America that 



94 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




should be open to all Protestants. He died before this could be 

done, but in 1638 a company of " strong, industrious people " sailed 

from Sweden to the Delaware River — or South River, as the 

Dutch called it. Up the wide, beautiful stream they went until 

they were where Wilmington now stands. There they built a 

fort and named it Fort Christiana in honor of the Uttle girl, 

twelve years old, who had become their queen. She 

was much interested in the colony, and was glad 

to have her father's plan carried out. This was 

the beginning of the settlement of Delaware. 

After a few years, a governor named Printz 
was sent to rule the colony. He did not mean 
,.- that any craft should sail up the Delaware 
River against his will; and when a vessel 
entered the stream, the sailors must anchor and 
go on for six leagues in small boats to ask if the 
governor would allow them to bring up the 
ship. If his permission was not asked, he would fire upon the 
vessel, no matter to what nation it belonged. 

This was very annoying to the Dutch^ for they had a little 
settlement farther up the Delaware, opposite where Philadelphia 
now stands, and to be obliged to ask the permission of a Swede 
whenever they wished to sail up to their own people was rather 
hard. They said dolefully that the 
Swedish fort was " extremely well 
supplied with cannons and men." 
After a while the time came when 
Fhe Dutch Sweden was too busy making war in 

l^inpn ^^^ Europe to defend her colony on the Delaware. The hot-headed 
Governor Stuyvesant had borne about as much as he cared to 
bear, and Governor Printz was greatly surprised one morning 
to see seven Dutch ships come sailing up his river without ask- 



DUTCH TAXKARI) 

(Given to the first white girl born in New 

Netherland, on her marriage) 




DUTCH FLINTLOCK PISTOL 



Sweden 



NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 95 



ing his permission. There were more men on board, armed and 
ready to fight, than there were in all the little Swedish settle- 
ment, and Governor Printz had to surrender. So it was that the 
Dutch became masters not only of New Netherland, but of New New Jersey 
Sweden. In 1617, only three years after they built their fort on ^^^^^^ 
Manhattan Island, they built one where Bergen stands, and this 
was the first settlement in New Jersey. 

So far, the Dutch had had matters their own way. They had 
taken as much land as they chose, 
and had conquered the Swedes 
who would not live under their 
rule, but now trouble was com 
ing upon them. An Eng- 
lish fleet sailed into Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, and the 
Dutchmen of New Amster- 
dam were greatly alarmed, 
but Holland sent a mes- 
sage, " There is nothing to 
fear. They have only come to 
oblige Massachusetts to admit 
the Episcopal Church." There 
were some Dutch warships 
lying off New Amsterdam, but when this dispatch came, Gov- Trouble for 
ernor Stuyvesant allowed them to sail. The Dutch had made *^^ ^^^^^ 
a treaty with the Iroquois, the chief tribe of Indians in that part 
of the country, but some other red men were making trouble, 
and the governor and most of his troops had gone up the Hudson 
to quiet them. One hot August day a messenger dashed into 
the camp. "The EngUsh ships!" he cried. "They have left 
Boston, and they are coming to Manhattan ! " 

Governor Stuyvesant hurried to Manhattan, and the next day 




THE STRAND, NOW WHITEHALL STREET, NEW YORK. 

IN 1673 

(The house at the head of the wharf was the first brick house 

built in the town) 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



£ngland 
claims New 
Amsterdam 



Nicolls's 
letter 



the men-of-war appeared. There were one thousand soldiers on 
board, and there were six times as many guns as Fort Amsterdam 
could show. Governor Winthrop came ashore and made it clear 
to Governor Stuyvesant that the land had been granted to the 
Massachusetts Bay Company, and must be surrendered. Stuy- 
vesant would not yield, and at last Winthrop presented a letter 
from the English commander, Richard NicoUs, whom the king 
had appointed governor of the territory, and went back to the 
ship. This letter promised that the Dutch might plant as many 

colonies as they chose 
and have all the privi- 
leges of English colo- 
nists, if they would sur- 
render Manhattan. 

" Let us read it to the 
people," said the coun- 
cilors. 

" I won't," roared 

Governor Stuyvesant, 

thumping on the floor 

with his wooden leg ; 

and straightway he 

tore the letter into bits. 

The people heard 

what he had done, and 

STUYVESANT TEARS UP NICOLLS'S LETTER they demanded to hear 

the letter. One of the councilors put the pieces together and read 

it to them. 

" The West India Company has done little for us," said one. 
" Why should we lose our homes and our hves to hold the land 
for them ? " demanded another. 

"We cannot hold the land if we would," declared a third 




NEW YORK, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY 97 



* We have twenty gxms and two hundred and fifty men ; they 
have one hundred and twenty guns and one thousand men." 

Still Stuyvesant would not yield. The ships sailed into the 
North River, and the governor marched up the road at the head New York 
of liis men to prevent the troops from landing. The 
citizens begged him not to fire. "Women and chil- 
dren crowded around him and pleaded with him not 
to bring war upon them. He yielded, but he said, 
"I'd rather be carried to my grave." So it came 
about that New Amsterdam was no longer a Dutch 
town. It lost even its name, for the English king 
gave the territory to his brother, the Duke of York, 
and in 1664 New Amsterdam became New Y^ork. 

NicoUs remained as governor. He was a just, kind- 
hearted man, always ready to please the people. When 
he was obHged to go back to England, the New York- 
ers were as sorry as if they themselves had chosen 
him for their governor. Honest, positive old Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant and this gentle, courteous Governor 
Nicolls became warm friends. Stuyvesant lived on 
his "bowery" on the East River, and the man whom he would 
have fought to the death was one of his most welcome guests. 

Governor Nicolls was much pleased with the northern part of 
what is now New Jersey. He sent a colony there when he had New Jersey 
been in New York only a few months, but before the colonists away ^" 
were fairly settled, he learned that the Duke of Y^'ork had given 
away the land to two noblemen, Lord Berkeley and Sir George 
Carteret. " Hold on to your homes," said Governor Nicolls. " I 
am going to England, and I will beg the duke not to give up the 
land." 

The visit was of no use, and one day in 1664 an English vessel 
appeared in the harbor. The colonists stood in a group on the 




A COMPANION OF 

GOVERN OK NICOLLS 

(Showing the costume 

of the period) 



98 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Philip Car- 
teret 



river bank, not knowing whether they would be treated kindly or 
driven harshly away from their settlement. A small boat was 
rowed to the landing, and a young man sprang ashore. Tradition 
says that he had a hoe on his shoulder. He introduced himself 
as Philip Carteret, a cousin of Sir George, and made a cordial 
little speech to the settlers, saying that he was glad to find them 

there, and he hoped they would 
stay. He told them how much 
land he would give them, and 
promised that every man 
might worship God as he 
thought right. 

The colonists liked the 
young man. They had built 
four " clapboarded houses," 
and, crowded as they were, 
room was made for Philip and 
his men. This is the way in 
which the town of EUzabeth 
was begun. The name was that of Sir George's wife. New Jer- 
sey's name came from the island of Jersey, of which Sir George 
Carteret had once been governor. 

Not many years passed before Lord Berkeley sold his share of 
New Jersey to the Quakers. Some time afterwards they pur- 
chased the share of the Carterets also. In 1702 East and West 
Jersey were united and became a royal colony. 




STUYVESAMT'S BOWERY HOUSE 



SUMMARY. 

Henry Hudson, sailing for a Dutch company, discovered the Hudson River, 
New York was first settled by the Dutch fur traders, and was called New 

Amsterdam. Patroons received large estates along the Hudson. 
England claimed the land because of Cabot's voyage, seized it, and gave to 

both city and province the name New York. 



PENNSYLVANIA 99 

Delaware was settled by the Swedes, and afterwards was seized in turn by 

the Dutch and the English. 
New Jersey was settled by the Dutch, then by colonists under Carteret and 

Berkeley, then by Quakers. Finally it became a royal colony. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Stuyvesant describes the surrender of New Amsterdam. 
A patroon tries to persuade a man to come to America. 
A talk between Governor Printz and some sailors who wished to go up the 
Delaware. 



XI 

PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND 



liam Penn 



PENNSYLVAOTA. 

Settlements had already been 
made in New England, New York, TheboyWiJ 
and Delaware when the boy was 
born who was to hold more land in 
America than any other man had 
ever received. His name was Wil- 
liam Penn, and he was the son of 
an admiral of the British navy. 
When the boy grew older, he was 
very handsome. He was an excel- 
lent scholar, and spoke five or six 
languages. He was fond of out- 
of-door sports, rode well, danced 
well, was a good swordsman, and 
a favorite wherever he went. 
Admiral Penn was exceedingly proud of his brilliant son. He 




WILLIAM PENN 

(When twenty-two years old) 



100 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




A QUAKER > 



sent Mm to Oxford University, and made many plans for his 
career after he had graduated. By and by news 
came to the admiral that the young man had 
become a Quaker, and that he was getting into 
trouble at the University because he thought it 
was wrong to attend the church service and be- 
cause he persisted in saying thee and thou instead 
of you. The Quakers, or Friends, did not think 
it right to speak to one person as you^ since 
you is a plural pronoun, although by most peo- 
ple it was thought as impertinent to say thou 
to an older person as it would be to-day to 
call him by his first name. 

The admiral was angry and disappointed. 
One thing that seemed especially shocking to 
'""'hr'nTef^re^^rnTonir^ ^^ was his sou's rcfusal to take off his hat, 
Penn will even to the king. The king himself was not at all annoyed. He 
thought this whim of young Penn's, as he called it, was very 
amusing, and when the handsome young man stood before him, 
hat on head, the king took off his own hat. " Friend Charles," 
asked the Quaker, " why dost thou take off thy hat ? " " Wher- 
ever I go," answered the king, with a sly twinkle in his eye, " it is 
the custom for only one man to wear a hat." William Penn Uked 
a jest as well as any one, and he must have been amused at this 
speech, but he continued to wear his hat. 

In some important matters the Friends were wiser than the 
rest of the world ; for instance, in England a man might be 
hanged for stealing a loaf of bread, but the Friends believed that 
it was far better to punish him in some other way than by taking 
his Ufe. In those days most people thought that insane persons 
could be cured by beating and starving, but Penn believed in 
1 From a portrait of Nicholas Wain in Watson's AnnaU of Philadelpliia. 



not remove 
his hat to 
the king 



Advanced 
ideas of the 
Quakers 



PENNSYLVANIA 



101 



having hospitals for them and treating them kindly. He thought 

no one should be imprisoned for debt ; and, so far as is known, 

he was the first man in the world to declare that criminals ought 

to have work provided for them when they were imprisoned, and 

not spend their time in idleness and in learning more of evil 

from the other prisoners. Another idea of his, which was then Penn's own 

almost unheard of, was that nations, instead of going to war when "^^^^ 

they disagreed, should let their rulers meet and act as a council 

to settle any dispute. It is probable that many who were opposed 

to the Quakers did not think so much of the difference of belief 

in important affairs as of what seem to us very small matters, 

such as refusing to take off the hat, and saying thee and thou. 

There were Quakers in New Jersey, and for some time Penn 
thought of founding a settlement in 
America where his people could live in 
peace and not be fined or beaten or im- 
prisoned. Charles II. owed Admiral 
Penn a large sum of money, and when 
the admiral died, William Penn offered 
to accept instead of the money a tract 
of land in America. The king was glad 
enough to escape from paying the debt. 
He thought it very amusing that this 
young Quaker would take wild forest 
land instead of such a sum of money, 
and it may be that there was a touch of 
humor in the name which he gave it, 
" Pennsylvania," or " Penn's Woodland," 
though he declared that the name was 

given in honor of the admiral. More amusing still did it seem to 
the merry King Charles to send Quakers, who did not believe in 
fighting, off among the savages. 







CHAKLES 11. 



102 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Philadelphia 
founded 



"We shall have no fighting," said Penn, "we shall pay the 
Indians for the land." 

" I thought the land was mine," said the king. " Did n't our 
ships discover it ? " 

" If some Indians should come over here and discover England, 
would the country be theirs ? " asked Penn. 

" Oh good-by, good-by," said the king ; " but see to it that you 
don't take to scalping," 

There were to be just laws in Penn's colony and religious free> 
dom. Ship after ship sailed up the Delaware, full of colonists ,^ 
three thousand came during the first year. Penn planned his 

city with wide, straight streets, 
and gave them the names of 
forest trees. Some of these 
names have been changed, but 
there are still Chestnut, Wal- 
nut, Spruce, Pine, and others. 
The settlers at first lived not 
on the river bank, but in it, for 
they dug into the bluff from the 
side and top, spread turf and 
branches over the cave for a 
roof, and were not at all un- 
comfortable. So it was that 
Philadelphia was begun in 1682. 
The nalne means the "city of 
THE MIDDLE COLONIES brothcrly love," and Penn in- 

tended that people of different beliefs should have an oppor- 
tunity to five there in peace. In a few weeks he asked the set- 
tlers to meet him, and together they made laws for the colony. 

Soon after Penn's arrival the famous treaty with the Indians 
was made. Penn feasted them, and they feasted him. They ran 




PENNSYLVANIA 



103 



and leaped to show what they could do. The governor watched Penn's _ 
a little while, then he showed what he could do. When they Jhe^j^dians 
saw that he could leap as far and run as fast as they, they were 
convinced that he was really a mighty man, and they 
gladly made a treaty with him. The treaty 
made by the Pilgrims with Massasoit was kept 
for more than fifty years, but this famous treaty 
of Penn's was faithfully observed for sixty years. 

The Quakers paid the red men for the land that they 
took, as the whites in New York and New England had 
done ; but the Quakers were especially fortunate in 
having around them, not fierce, warUke Indians like 
those of the east, but tribes that had been completely 
subdued by the fierce Iroquois, made to pay tribute, 
and to call themselves cowards. Their conquerors 
were friendly to the whites, and were ready to swoop 
down upon the Indians of Pennsylvania if they harmed 
the Quakers.^ 

This was what gave Penn safety. But he had more 
than safety : he had the friendship of the red men, and this he 
won chiefly because he was one of the few white men who treated 
them not as inferiors, but as equals, and because he was careful 
to do by them as he would have liked them to do by him. Penn 
stayed two years in America. He lived at first in a small cottage, 
now in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, the bricks for which were 
brought from England. He was finally obliged to return to Eng- 
land, and visited his " Woodland " but once more. 

The city grew. Schools were opened when it was only one 
year old, and — a new thing in those days — they were for girls Education 
as well as boys. Children could be taught to read for four shil- Quakers and 
lings a term, and for eight shillings they could learn reading, Puritans 
* Fiske's Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America. 




PENN'S AUTOGEAPH 
AND SEAL 



104 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Growth of 
the city 



writing, and arithmetic. The Quaker belief in regard to educa- 
tion was quite different from that of the Puritans. Both were 
eager to understand the Bible aright. The Puritans thought that 
the more of a student a man was, the better chance he would 

have of knowing just 
what every verse in 
the Bible meant. That 
is why the Puritans 
were so anxious to 
found a college. The 
Quakers thought that 
if one simply learned 
to read, God would put 
into his heart the mean- 
ing of what was said in 
the Bible. That is why 
they did not think it was necessary to have a college, although 
they wished their children to have a common school education. 

Philadelphia grew rapidly and soon became the largest city in 
the colonies, retaining that distinction for many years. Two years 
after Penn's arrival the first printing press in the middle colonies 
was established in Philadelphia. There, too, was pubUshed the 
first daily paper in the United States. 




PENN o BRICK COTTAtrE 
(Formerly 8tanding on the west side of Letitia Street) 



English per- 
secution of 
Roman 
Catholics 



MARTLAKD. 

Maryland is a kind of link between the northern colonies and 
those farther south. It was first settled in 1634, the very year in 
which Roger Williams was having so hard a time in Massachu- 
setts. The Roman Catholics in England were meeting even 
greater troubles than his. If they refused to attend the Episcopal 
Church, thej'' were fined or imprisoned, or even tortured. Not a 
word could they say about making the laws of the land, and they 



MARYLAND 



105 



a colony 



could not even send their children away to school in Roman 
Catholic countries. The queen was a Roman Catholic, but, 
strangely enough, this fact only made Ufe m England harder for 
the members of her church. In order to marry her, Charles had 
promised that the laws against those of her faith should not be 
carried out. He had no power to bring this to pass, and while 
the Roman Catholics were indignant that he did not succeed, the 
Protestants were angry that he even made an attempt, and they 
watched closely to make sure that the laws were enforced. 

In England there was a wise, clear-sighted nobleman called Lord Balti 
Lord Baltimore. He had been a member of Parliament, and he ^?i?onv "'^ 
was a friend of King Charles. This nobleman had become a Ro- 
man Cathohc, and just as the Puritans wished to 
found a colony where they could be free to worship 
as they would, so Lord Baltimore wished to found one 
where Roman Catholics could have their church. He 
asked the king for some land north of Virginia, and 
Charles was more than ready to grant the request. 
This gift would please the Roman Catholics, 
the Protestants would not object to their op- 
ponents leaving the country, and the only ones 
displeased would be the colonists in Virginia, 
who were too far away to make any trouble. 

Lord Baltimore could appoint his own judges, 
have his own form of worship, and make very 
nearly Avhat laws he chose. The only claim that 
King Charles made upon the proprietor was that 
one fifth of all gold and silver mined should be- 
long to the crown, and that two Indian arrows should be pre- The inde- 
sented to him every year, to show that the land was under the Maryland 
Enghsh rule. The queen's name was Henrietta Maria, and in 
her honor the tract was to be called Maryland. 




CECILIUS CALVERT, SECOKU 
LOUD BALTIMORE 



106 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



founded 



Just as the papers for this grant were to be made out, Lord 
St Mary's is Baltimore died, but his son went on with the plan, and carried 
out his father's ideas. Soon three hundred colonists went tG 
Maryland. A few were rich, and all were well supplied with 
what would be needed in a new country. Some were Roman 
Catholics, but many were Protestants, for it was known that men 
were to attend whatever church they chose. The emigrants came 
to land on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. The ship was 
the largest that the Indians had ever seen, and they sent messen- 
gers about to say, " A canoe as large as an island has brought as 
many men as there are trees in the woods." " Where did a tree 
grow that was large enough to make it of ? " they asked, for they 
thought it was made of a single trunk like a dug-out. For " axes, 
hatch-ets, hoes, and some yards of cloth," the chief sold the whites 
a piece of land at the mouth of the Potomac, and there in 1634 
was founded Saint Mary's, the first settlement in Maryland. 
Some wigwams were on this land, and in 
one of these was held the first Roman Cath- 
olic service in that part of the world. Tliis 
Indian hut is sometimes spoken of as the 
" Wigwam Church." 

The governor called the colonists to a 

meeting, and together they made laws for 

The most famous one of these laws declared 




A BALTIMORE SIXPENCE 
(Issued by Lord Baltimore in 1662) 



Religious 
freedom 



the settlement. 

that no one who believed in Jesus Christ should be interfered 
with in his worship. Rhode Island was not founded till two 
years later, so such liberality was sometliing entirely new in 
America, and it was almost unknown in Europe. Roman Catho- 
lics came to the colony, of course, and Quakers came ; and finally 
some Puritans came who had not been happy in Virginia, and 
they founded Annapohs. 
The great business of Maryland was raising tobacco. This 



MARYLAND 



107 




DOr<r/!(i:;Kf;AN ^;axok in MARYLAND 

work paid so well that people did little else ; and while the New Why Mary- 
Englanders were spinning and weaving and sawing and whittling, manufac- 
the people of Maryland were rolling their hogsheads of tobacco tures 
to the wharves, and sending them to England to buy whatever 
they needed to wear and to use in their houses. With whole 
forests at hand, the Marylanders made nothing for themselves, 
but sent the wood to England to be manufactured into tables, 
stools, bowls, and brooms, and brought back to them. 

People living on large plantations cannot have their houses 
near together, and this is the chief reason why there were so few Reason for 
towns in Maryland even after many settlers had come. Each Jowns^ °' 
plantation, however, was like a little town in itself. There were 
wide fields of tobacco all around, cabins for the workmen, a 
chapel, storehouses, and in the centre of all the great, comfortable 
house of the owner of the plantation. In these rather lonely 
places, the people at the " great house " were always glad to wel- 
come guests. The homes of the planters " are free for all to come 
and go," said one who knew them well. 



108 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Puritan re- 
bellion 



Changes of 
government 



In a short time there were troubles in Maryland, which arose 
chiefly because the Virginians did not wish to have a colony so 
near. Some years later a rebelhon broke out among the Puritans 
against the governor. They were especially ungrateful because, 
as was said, Lord Baltimore had given them the same rights that 
he had given to the people of his own church. The Puritans 
were in power in England, and the man who was then Lord Balti- 
more was declared to have no claim upon Maryland. 

A few years later his rights were restored, and for thirty years 
every man went to church where he pleased. Then the king 
took the government into his o\vn hands, and the Roman Catho- 
lics were obliged to pay forty pounds of tobacco apiece every year 
to help support the Episcopal Church. Finally a Protestant de- 
scendant of the founder was appointed governor, and his family 
held the province until the Revolution. 



SUMMARY. 

The Quaker, William Penn, obtained a grant of land in America and 
founded Philadelphia. People of all kinds of belief came to enjoy 
religious freedom. The city soon became the largest in the colonies. 

Maryland was founded by Lord Baltimore as a place of refuge for Roman 
Catholics who were persecuted in England. 

Religious freedom was given to all who chose to come. 

Maryland had few manufactures because tobacco-raising paid so well that 
people bought whatever was needed, and few towns because each man 
wished to have a large plantation for raising tobacco. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A Quaker boy describes his cave in the banks of the Delaware. 
Penn tells the Indians of his wish to be on good terms with them. 
One Indian tells another about the coming of the great ship. 



NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA 



109 



XII 
THE CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 



the Caroli- 



-M-' I -R' is'' I 



N o 
C A R „ 



/ -V 



NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The father of Charles II, treated his people so badly that finally 
he was tried and pnt to death. For eleven years there was no The grant of 
king in England, and then Charles II. was set upon the throne. ^^^ 
The men who had helped him 
to secure his father's crown 
expected to be rewarded, but 
Charles preferred to spend his 
money in amusing himself. The 
cheapest thmg to do was to give 
them some land in America, and 
this he did. To a company of 
eight he gave the land between 
Virginia and Saint Augustine. 
Like the other grants, this terri- 
tory was to extend to the west 
as far as the Pacific. 

Carolina was not all wilder- map of the carolinas and gkokgia 
ness, for a few farmers had come from Virginia and settled near Albemarle 
Albemarle Sound, not far from Roanoke Island, where Raleigh 
had tried to begin his " second home " for the English nation. In 
1663 the Company gave the little group of houses the name of 
Albemarle. This was the first permanent settlement in North 
Carolina. 

The first settlement in South Carolina was made in 1670. near 



Q ' » St.Auyustiue 



' ■^,,,•lc^ 



V c 





110 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Charleston 



The Hugue- 
nots 



The Grand 
Model 



where Charleston now stands, by English emigrants whom the 
Company sent over. Just as Jamestown had been named in 
honor of King James, so this settlement was named in honor of 
King Charles II. 

South Carolina was especially fortunate in the Huguenot, or 
French Protestant, emigrants who came to the new colony in the 
early days. The king of France declared that they should not 
have a church of their own in France, and that if they tried to 
emigrate, they should be hanged. Those who came to America 
had to steal away by night and abandon their homes and other 
property, but when they reached the New World, every colony 
had a welcome for them. Massachusetts gladly gave them land 
and money. They were valuable colonists, for they understood 
various kinds of manufactures, and, more than that, they were 
brave, upright, intelligent people, a prize for any nation. 

In England a learned man named John Locke wrote a body 
__, of laws for Carolina. 





There were laws for 
everything that could 
be thought of from the 
punishment of crimes 
to the oversight of chil- 
dren's games. There was 
to be a certain number 
of noblemen, each own- 
ing a certain amount of 
land. There were also 
to be tenants, who rented land, but could never buy it. They 
must do whatever the nobleman bade, and they must not leave 
his land without permission. The Company were so delighted 
with this body of laws that they called it the " Grand Model," and 
declared that it would stand forever. In reality, it never stood 



EKTRAKCE TO CHARLESTON HARBOR 



GEORGIA 



111 



at all, for the settlers refused to be ruled in any such fashion, and 
insisted upon buying land and making laws for themselves. 
North Carolina had vast forests of pines, and the chief occupa- 
tion of the colonists was cutting timber and making tar The chief 
and turpentine. South Carolina had great tracts of 
swampy land, and as soon as it was found that rice 
would grow on it, the raising of rice became the princi- 
pal work. Long before the Revolutionary War, it was 
discovered that indigo would flourish in South Carolina, 
and that paid so well that indigo raising then became 
the leading industry. It was not easy for white people 
to work in the swamps, and negro slaves were brought 
RICE from Africa. The occupations of the two parts of Caro- Division of 

tVip C^ 3 roll" 

linawere so unlike and the first settlements so far apart, that ^^g 
what one portion of the country wanted was often quite different 
from what the other required. The 
result of this was that the territory 
was finally divided into two parts, 
North and South Carolina. 




GEORGIA. 

There used to be a law in England 
that men who could not pay their 
debts should be put into prison. In 
prison they must stay unless some 
one paid for them, for there they had 
no way of earning money. Indeed, 
they had little food unless their 
friends gave it to them or they could 
beg it from those who passed by. 
Many of these " poor debtors " were honest men who had run in 
debt because of sickness. Some were even weU educated. 




Poor debtors 



GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE 
(From a print in the British Museum) 



112 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Oglethorpe 
plans to help 
them 



Why he 
chose Geor- 
gia 



The settle- 
ment of 
Georgia 



The prisons of England were in a wretched condition, and Par- 
liament appointed General James Oglethorpe to visit them and 
report what reforms ought to be made. General Oglethorpe was 
a kind-hearted man, and after he had seen the sufferings of these 
people, he could not rest until he had planned some way to relieve 
them. This is what he planned. He would pay their debts, set 
them free, and then carry them and their families to America, and 
give them a chance to try again. 

Many rich men helped, the English government helped, and it 
was only a year before a ship set sail with more than one hundred 
Uberated prisoners and their famiUes on board as emigrants. They 
were to form a settlement between Charleston and Saint Augus- 
tine, for Oglethorpe was a good general as well as a kind, gener- 
ous man, and he knew that Charleston would welcome a strong 
settlement to the south as a protection against the Spaniards, 
p — — -^ - -., g^^^ ^-^^^ |-jjg ^^Q colo- 

I ' nies could stand more 

T firmly together than 
either alone. The tract 
of land given to him 
" in trust for the poor " 
was called Georgia, for 
then King George II. 
was on the throne. 

The first settlement 
was made at Savannah 
in 1733. Not many 
SAVANNAH IN \7.>. ycars before this time, 

the Spaniards of Florida had aroused the Indians to attack South 
Carolina, and that colony was delighted to have these new neigh- 
bors and allies. She gave them cattle, goats, hogs, and rice, besides 
sending some negroes with them to help build the houses. South 




GEORGIA 



113 



Carolina was not disappointed in the help that she expected to 
receive from the new colony, for General Oglethorpe led an expe- 
dition against the Spaniards, and after that there was no trouble 
from them. 

Oglethorpe had expected to be able to make wine and ohve oil. Silk-raising 
and to produce large quantities of silk, for mulberry-trees, 
on whose leaves the silkworms feed, grew wild in Georgia. 
When the colony was two years old, the founder made 
a visit to England, and carried with him eight pounds 
of Georgia silk, which was made into a dress for 
the queen. Silk-raising was not a success, however, 
one reason being that the raising of rice and indigo 
paid much better. 

Oglethorpe and his friends were to make the 
laws for the colonies for twenty-one years ; but 
after a httle while the settlers were not contented 
to be ruled by others. There were two reasons why 
they felt that they had a right to complain. One was 
that no rum could be brought into the colony, and the 
second was that slavery was not allowed. The colonists 
said that men needed rum in that climate, and that besides, 
they ought to have it to sell to the West Indies. The 
cUmate, it was maintained, required the use of negroes, for the 
settlers said they must have workmen who could endure the heat 
better than white men. 

The founder and his friends finally granted their requests. 
Twenty years after the colony was founded, the province was Georgia is 
given up to the king, and until the Revolution it was ruled by a ^eTing ^° 
governor whom he appointed. Georgia was the last of the thirteen 
EngUsh colonies that united, only a century and a half after the 
first one was founded, to free themselves from Great Britain. 




BRANCH OF OLIYB 



114 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



SUMMARY. 

The Carolinas were granted to several men as a reward for serving tha 
king. Among their most valuable colonists were the Huguenots. 

The chief industry in the northern part was the manufacture of tar and 
turpentine ; in the southern, the raising of rice and indigo. The wants 
of the two colonies were so unlike that the province was finally di- 
vided. 

General Oglethorpe founded Georgia as a home for " poor debtors." 

The settlers were not satisfied with the government of the colony, and at 
last it was given up to the king. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

General Oglethorpe tells Parliament about the " poor debtors." 
One of the prisoners writes his wife about Oglethorpe's offer. 



xiir 

THE FRENCH EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICA 



^ A FEW years before Jamestown was settled, 
there was in France a brave young sailor who 
had become a soldier for the time, and was 
helping to fight some of the French king's 
battles. His name was Champlain, and he 
would have been much surprised if any one 
^ had told him that some day a lake in America 
would be named after him. 
When the fighting was over, he asked the 
cHAMPLAiN's PICTURE OF QUEBEC klug's pcrmission to go to America to search 

in 1613 ,. j_1 -VX •• -r-. T J 

for the JNorthwest Passage. He explored 
the Saint Lawrence, and on its north shore he noted a rocky pro 




FRENCH EXPLORATIONS 



lis 



montory. " That is the very place for a town," he thought. " The The found- 
river is narrow here, and a fort with a few men could keep any of ebec 
number of ships from coming up the stream." In 1608 he founded 
a colony on that very spot, and named it Quebec from the Indian 
word Quebec^ a narrow place. 

The Iroquois, the fiercest and most savage of all the Indian 
tribes, Uved in what is now the State of New York, and one day 
the friendly Indians who were north of the Saint Lawrence came 
to Champlain to beg for his aid against these Iroquois, who were 
their deadly foes. Champlain agreed to help them. The white 
men and the red men 
feasted and smoked and 
made speeches. Then 
they paddled up the 
river and into Lake 
Champlain. If they had 
been one month later 
and had gone a little 
farther south, they 
might have met Henry 
Hudson and his Dutch- 
men sailing up the Hud- 
son. All the men that they thought of meeting were the Iroquois, Champlain 
and soon the Iroquois came. Champlain's guns won the day, and j"oquo1s 
there was no limit to the devotion of the Indians. To show their 
affection and gratitude, they gave him the bleeding head of one 
of their enemies and asked him to present it to his sovereign. 
This little battle between a few red men in the woods with some 
white men helping one side was an important event in American 
history, for ever after this the Iroquois hated the French and 
were ready to help the English. That is why the French did 
not venture to found any colonies in New York, although they 







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VwdJrr'^^m 


flffli^^l 








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A JESUIT EXPLOKEB 



116 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Jesuits 



explored to the westward, up the Saint Lawrence and about the 
Great Lakes. They clahned all the land that is drained by the 
river, and called it New France. 

The first explorers were Roman Catholic priests called Jesuits. 
Champlain said that he would rather convert an Indian than 
found an empire, and this was the spirit of these priests. Among 
the hostile Indians they suffered fearful tortures. They were 
beaten, they were burned, their fingers were cut off with shells 
joint by joint, and they were put to death in all the agonizing 
ways that could be invented. Still, even after the Dutch had 
ransomed one and sent him home, he made his way back again to 
preach to his tormentors. One Jesuit, when pursued by Iroquois, 
might easily have made his escape, but hastened back to terrible 
sufferings because he remembered that some of his Indian con- 
verts had not yet been baptized. In all the history of America, 
there are no heroes more brave, more earnest, and 
more unselfish than these black-robed missionaries 
of the wilderness. 

Another class of people who did much to bring the 

French and the Indians together were the coureurs de bois, 

or forest rangers. The king's officers demanded so much 

of the profit on furs that many young men went into the 

wilderness and traded without the royal permission. 

Whenever one was caught, he was severely punished; 

therefore, they went farther and farther away from the 

settlements. Often they married Indian women. 

Nearly all the English looked down upon the In- 

A couREUR DE Bois dians, but the French treated them as equals, and 

could go among them in safety far from any settlement of whites. 

After a while the French heard that beyond their forts and 

missions there was a great river which the Indians called thti 

Mississippi, or "father of waters." Marquette, a Jesuit priest 





FRENCH EXPLORATIONS 



117 



was eager to go down this stream to preach to new tribes of Marquette 

Indians, and Joliet, a fur-trader, was ready to go with him. The down^the ^^ 

friendly Indians begged them not to go. They said that the Mississippi 

distant tribes were fierce and cruel, and tliat the river was fuU 

of "monsters that devour both men and canoes." 

Nevertheless, the priest and the explorer and five of 

their friends floated down the Wisconsin and into 

the Mississippi. The Indians met them kiudly, and 

one tribe, the Illinois, begged that the white men 

would come back and live among them. They went 

below the mouth of the Arkansas, far enough to be 

almost sure that the great river did not flow into 

the Gulf of California, as had been thought, and 

then they paddled their way back up the Mississippi. 

Marquette was exhausted by the hard journey, but 
as soon as he was strong enough he went to visit 
the Illinois. He preached to them and founded a 
mission. On his way back to the Great Lakes, he 
died on the bank of the river that is named for him. 

To find where the Mississippi emptied was the 
work of La Salle, another brave French explorer. 
Nothing could make this resolute man falter. He 
built a sailing vessel; it was wrecked. A French 
ship bringing him money was lost. He built a fort ; 
the garrison revolted. He made friends of the Illinois ; but when La Salle 
he came to their village a second time, it had been burned, and J^out^ of the 
the heads of his Indian aUies were put up on poles. Three times Mississippi 
he started on his expedition ; twice he failed. The third time, in 
the bitterly cold winter of 1682, he came to the Mississippi. It 
was full of floating ice, but the dauntless man never thought of 
giving up the voyage. Down the stream he made his way. At 
the mouth of the river he set up a great wooden cross, on which 




MARQUETTE 
( From the statue in the 
Capitol at Washington) 



118 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Louisiana 



Death of 
La Salle 



he nailed the arms of France, and took possession in the name of 
King Louis XIV. of all the land drained by the Mississippi and 

its branches. In honor of the 
king, he named the territory 
Louisiana. 

He knew that it was of little 
use to claim the land unless he 
planted colonies and built forts. 
The king gave him four ships 
that he might found a colony at 
the mouth of the Mississippi, but 
the pilot made a mistake and sailed to the coast of Texas. There 
they built a fort, but many of the men died and the rest quar- 
reled. Finally, La Salle set out for Canada to find help. On the 
way he was shot by one of his own men. So died one of the 
bravest and most resolute of all the explorers of the New World 




;ttlement at the mouth of the 
mississippi in i71s 



SUMMARY. 

Champlain explored the Saint Lawrence and founded Quebec ; therefore 

France claimed Canada. 
He sided with the Canadian Indians against the Iroquois ; and, because of 

their enmity, although the French planted colonies to the west, they 

founded none in New York. 
Marquette, Joliet, and La Salle explored the Mississippi ; therefore France 

claimed the land drained by that river. She named it Louisiana. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A Jesuit tells his friends about his life in America. 
An Indian tells Marquette about the Mississippi. 
La Salle describes his journey down the Mississippi. 



THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 



119 



XIV 

THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 

A FEW years after all the colonies except Georgia had been 
founded, war broke out between England and France. Both na- Who should 
tions were beginning to see that it was worth Avhile to hold land ^n^gj."ga 
in America, and that to destroy one of the enemy's settlements 
counted for more than to capture one of the enemy's warships. 




EFT— ^ 




S ] GWof W> 



y'Louisburg 



n A 1 r F 



c 



■-•V lUl A S ^^ 11 =t( 



, 'I 



. \ 



M,A 
c o 



... V 



Scale of^Milea 



lUO l5U iuo 250 



FRENCH FRONTIER IN THE NORTH 

This is why there was fighting between the French and English 
colonies. 

In this struggle the colonies that could be most easily reached 
from Canada suffered most. One of the first to be attacked was Schenectad> 
Schenectady in New York. The settlers had so little thought of ^^^^^"^^^ 
danger that in jest they had put up two snow men at the gates for 



120 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Hannah 

Dustan's 

adventures 



Burning of 
Deerfield 



sentinels. In the night, through the storm and the darkness, the 
French and Indians went silently past the watchmen of snow. 
Not a sound was heard. Suddenly came the terrible warwhoop, 
and in two hours men, women, and children were slain or carried 
away as prisoners. 
Another raid was made upon a few farmhouses near Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts. A sick wo- 
man named Hannah Duston 
was dragged away with her 
nurse. With the Indians was 
a boy captured at Worcester 
long before who had learned 
to speak their language. " They 
said that by and by we should 
have to run the gantlet," 
whispered the boy to Mrs. 
Duston. "Running the gant- 
let" meant running between 
two rows of men, each man 
striking at the captive as he 
THE CAPTURE OF FiANNAir iirsTON passcd. " Flud out whcro to 
strike if one would kill at a blow," whispered Mrs. Duston. That 
night they camped on an island in the Merrimack just above Con- 
cord, New Hampshire. The two women and the boy each took 
a tomahawk, and, gliding silently from one sleeping Indian to 
another, struck the fatal blow. With ten Indian scalps to prove 
the deed, they made their way back to their friends.^ 

A few years later an attack was made upon Deerfield, Massa- 
chusetts. It was burned and a large number of captives taken 
on the long march to Canada. Many of them died on the way, or 
were killed by the savages because they could not travel over the 
snow and ice as fast as the others. One little Deerfield girl finally 
1 Acts and Resolves of the Province of Masa. Bajj. vol. vii, p. 153- 




THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 121 

married an Indian. Years afterwards, she and her brave and 
their children made several visits to her old home. One Sunday 
her relatives persuaded her to put on a gown and bonnet and go 
to church ; but as soon as she came back, she tossed them off and 
went back to her Indian blanket and her Indian wigwam. 

After a time of peace, word came across the ocean that France 
and England were at war again. The governor of Louisburg, a New Eng- _ 

1 find GxnGdi* 

fortress on Cape Breton Island, heard the news first, and before ^j^j^ against 
Boston knew that war had been declared, he burned a little Eng- Louisburg 
lish fishing village. The New Englanders were indignant, and in 
their wrath they determined to capture Louisburg. 
A skilled commander would have hesitated, for Louisburg was 




LOUISBURG FROM THE NORTHEAST 

(On the right is the Koyal Battery, the first French outpost to be captured) ' 

the strongest fortress in North America ; but this scheme had " a 
lawyer for contriver, a merchant for general, and farmers, fisher- 
men, and mechanics for soldiers." No one in New England knew 
anything about besieging such a fort, and in all good faith the 
wildest methods were proposed. Almost as an afterthought, some 
English vessels were asked to accompany the expedition to pre- 
vent French ships from coming to the aid of the fortress. The 



122 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Louisburg 
taken 



New Englanders landed. The cannon must be dragged two miles, 
The men were up to their knees in mud, and the cannon sank 
out of sight. There were few tents, and not enough blankets to 
go around. Shoes gave out, clothes were in tatters, the scaling 
ladders were too short, two thousand men were sick ; and .before 
the troops were the stone walls of the fortress, thirty feet high. 
Louisburg was captured, but even the colonists themselves who 
afterwards went within the walls wondered how the deed had 
been done. It was partly because the French commander was 
not as bold or as wise as he should have been, and did not 
make the proper preparations ; and partly because, while 
the besiegers knew nothing of the usual way of attack- 
ing a fort, they had had a hard training in finding out how 
to do things for themselves, and they made their assaults in 
original fashions that were a continual surprise to the French- 
" Panic seized upon us," wrote a Frenchman who was at Louis- 
burg ; and he added mournfully, " These New Englanders 
CROSS are a singular people." All the fighting on land was done 

^^hurg'^nd nmv'in' by tlic colouists without othcr aid than the instructions of 
brLy" three or four gunners whom they borrowed from the fleet 

to show these daring soldiers how to use the cannon ; yet, if the 
English ships had not kept the harbor clear of vessels coming to 
help the French, and if they had not captured one with a supply 
of powder just as that of the besiegers was failing, Louisburg could 
not have been taken. 

When the terms of peace were arranged, England gave up 
Louisburg to France. This was done that England might gain 
some land in Hindustan, but the New Englanders were indignant, 
for they felt as if their great victory had gone for nothing. 

The question, " Who shall rule in America ? " was not yet set- 
tled, however. Before this, France and England had quarreled 
about matters in Europe, but trouble now arose about matters 




Louisburg 
returned to 
France 



THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 123 

tn America. France claimed the land drained by all the rivers The French 
that she explored. " The French king might as well claim all ^^^^ 
the lands that drink French brandy," declared an EngUshman ; 
but France went on building forts and claiming land. The Eng- 
lish were not especially interested in the Mississippi, but when the 
French claimed the Ohio, they were aroused. Some Virginians 
and Londoners formed the Ohio Company and planned to make 
settlements on the river. The French began at once to build forts 
down the Alleghany. 

At length Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia decided to send a 
letter to warn them that they were trespassing. A young man of A youthful 
twenty-one years was asked to carry the letter, and he set off on a ^ 

dangerous journey of nearly one thousand miles. It was winter, 
and the path was hidden by the deep snow. The young envoy 
would not wait for his party, but with one companion he went 
straight through the woods, finding his way by the compass. They 
crossed the creeks by felling trees for bridges. The Alleghany 
was full of floating ice, and they made a raft. In the middle of 
the stream the messenger was jerked into the water. He was 
fired at by an Indian not fifteen paces away, but at last he de- 
livered his letter and came safely home again. His friends were 
very proud of him, and they would have been still more proud if 
they had known what he would do for his country a few years 
later, for the young man's name was George Washington, 

The only answer the French made was that the letter should be 
forwarded to Marquis Duquesne, the governor of Canada. Then The answei 
Governor Dinwiddle sent Washington to build a fort where Pitts- pj-ench 
burg now stands. It was hardly begun when the French fell 
upon the party, completed the fort themselves, and named it Fort 
Duquesne. Washington built a small fort farther south, but 
when the French came upon him, he had to surrender and march 
back to Virginia. 



124 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



General 
Braddock 
takes com 
mand 



The next year the English sent over General Braddock to take 
command. " I shall capture Fort Duquesne in three or four days, 

and then march on to Niagara," 



said he, " The Indians are 
skillful in laying snares," mod- 
estly suggested a wise colonist 
of whom we shall hear more, 
for his name was Benjamin 
Franklin. "Very likely they 
are troublesome to your un- 
trained soldiers," said Brad- 
dock a little haughtily, "but 
the king's Regulars will have 
no difficulty." Washington 
tried to make him see that it 
would not do to draw up his 
men in Imes in plain sight 
when fighting with Indians, 
but Braddock accepted no ad- 
vice, and wrote home that the 
American troops were cow- 
ardly. 
Not far from Fort Duquesne there was a sudden attack. Brad- 
His defeat at dock was bravery itself, and the English soldiers would have 
stood like a wall against an enemy whom they could see, but 
hardly a foe was in sight. The deadly shots came from behind 
trees and rocks, and the soldiers had no idea where to fire. They 
were panic-stricken, and ran "like sheep pursued by dogs," 
Washington wrote home to his mother. He added, " I had four 
bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me." Then 
he signed himself in the formal fashion of those days, " I am, 
honored Madam, your most dutiful son, George Washington." 




REGION ABOUT FORT DUQUESNE 



Fort Du- 
quesne 



THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 125 



% 



Only the skill of the young Virguiian saved any part of the 
army. Braddock was slain, and Washington buried him secretly 
at night, lest his grave should be insulted. The Indians strutted 
about the battlefield, wearing the laced hats and scarlet uniforms 
of the English officers. 

One of the saddest events of the war occurred in Acadia, or 
Nova Scotia. Nearly all the settlers there were French, and they Exile of the 
claimed to be " neutrals," that is, persons who would favor neither Acadians 
party. The Enghsh believed that they were aiding the French, 
and thought that if they were v allowed to remain, Eng- 
land would lose Nova Scotia. 
Suddenly the English troops 
swept down upon the Aca- 
dians, carried six thousand of 
them away, and scattered 
them among the English colo- 
nies along the coast. In the 
confusion, husbands were 
parted from their wives, and 
mothers from their children. 
There is a tradition that a 
young maiden was separated 
from her betrothed, and wan- 
dered for many years in 
search of him. It is upon 
this story that Longfellow 
founded his " Evangeline." _^^__ 

The exiles buried many of , expoxsion of the acadiaus 

their possessions, hoping to return. Some of these things have 
been found and for more than a century i)eople did not give up 
digging in search of the chapel bell of Port Royal. 

Those who came to Philadelphia were in great need, until a 




126 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Aca- 
dians in 
Philadelphia 



Quebec 



kind Quaker raised funds to build a row of little wooden houses 
for them, and to provide a teacher for their children. There 
was a strange fear of these simple, harmless people, and a young 
Philadelphia girl wrote that she was frightened because she had 
to go by the houses of the " French Neutrals " at twilight. This 
carrying people from their homes was not a new thmg, and 




THE FORTRESS OF QUEBEC AS IT IS TO-DAY 

strangely enough, it is just what the French king had proposed 
to do some years earlier if he had captured New York. 

The English had won victories, but the one thing that would 
end the French rule in America was the capture of Quebec. 
Quebec was built on a great mass of rock that jutted out into the 
Saint Lawrence. It was one of the strongest cities in the world, 
and it was commanded by General Montcalm, a brave and suc- 
cessful French soldier. The English were commanded by General 
Wolfe, a young man who had won glory in previous fighting. 

All summer Wolfe tried one plan after another to take the city, 
but in vain. Autumn came, and he planned a final attempt. He 
sent part of the vessels with a few men below the town to pre- 
tend to be getting ready for an assault, while the other ships with 



THE STRUGGLE WITH THE FRENCH 127 



most of the men sailed far up above the town. Montcalm was 

below, and one of his officers above, each expecting an attack. 

When night came, Wolfe and his men floated down stream in 

the deep shadow of the high bank. It was dark, but the stars were Capture of 

out. Wolfe repeated softly his favorite poem, Gray's " Elegy." the Enelish 

" I should rather have written those hnes," said he, " than to take 

Quebec." They came near the shore. " Who is there ? " called 

the sentinel. " Provision boats," was the answer. " Keep still, 

the English will hear ! " Provision boats were expected, and the 

sentinel asked no more questions. 

About a mile above Quebec was a high plateau called the 
Plains of Abraham from a pilot who lived there in the early days. 
Wolfe had seen with liis glass far across the river a rough 
path up the almost perpendicular cliff, and he believed that 
his men could climb it. Montcalm, too, had noticed this 
path, but he said, " They have not wings, and one hundred 
men posted there could stop their whole army." So they 
could, but the one in charge was careless, and while Mont- 
calm below the town and his officer above the town were 
each expecting an attack, Wolfe and his men were climbing 
up the steep cliff. 

In the morning Montcalm found an Enghsh army 
drawn up in line on the Plains. There was a fierce 
battle. Both commanders were mortally wounded. Wolfe 
heard his men crying, " They run ! See them run ! " " Who 
run?" he asked, and when he knew it was the French, 
he said, " Now I shall die in peace." Montcalm was 
carried to a little house in the town. " Thank God," 
said he, " that I shall not live to see the surrender of 
Quebec." 

This victory in 1759 ended in America the war which lasted in 
"Europe till 1763. France gave up to England, Canada, and all 




ENGLISH SOLDIER OP 
WOLFE'S TIME 



128 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE 

(From the painting by Benjamin West) 



English rule the land that the French had claimed east of the Mississippi. 
esta IS e j)^|j.jng the war, England had captured Cuba and the Philippines 



in America 



from Spain, for Spain was helping France. Now England gave 
the islands back and took Florida in exchange. To pay Spain for 
this loss, France had to give her New Orleans and all the land 
between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. The question 
was settled once for all that England would rule in America. 



SUMMARY. 

For nearly seventy-five years there were periods of fighting with the French 

to see who should rule in America. 
The latter part of this struggle, brought on by the attempts of the French 

to seize the Ohio valley, was called the French and Indian War. 



TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 



129 



The capture of Quebec gave England the control in America. 
After the war, England held Canada and all land east of the Mississippi. 
Spain held the land between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A New England soldier writes home from Louisburg. 
Washington's companion tells about the journey to the Alleghany. 
An Acadian girl describes the carrying away of her people. 



XV 

THE TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 

America in the eighteenth century was a very different country 
from what it is to-day. In the first place, there were probably Population 
not so many inhabitants in 
all the English colonies as 
there are now in New York 
and Philadelphia, and of 
these half a million were 
negro slaves. 

Slaves were held in aU the 
colonies. Indeed, England 
was making so much money 
in the slave trade that she 
forced slavery upon America, 
and ordered her officers in 
the New World to do all 
that they could to encourage 

the trade. In the South, a negro could live on cheap food and 
without many clothes or much shelter, while in the North, if he 
djd not have good food, warm clothes, and a comfortable shelter. 




Slavery 



GREAT HOUSE OF AN EAKLY PLANTATIOIS 



130 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



he would die. The result was that people in the northern colo- 
nies fo^md that slavery did not pay, and it was gradually dis 
appearing. Even in the southern colonies there was a feehng 

that slavery would 



vanish in time. 
The Carolinas were 
not at all pleased, 
and even a little 
alarmed, to have 
so many negroes 
in their territory. 






.^|yffi^^ 




A POSTRIDER 
(From a print in the Post Office Department) 



and mail 



Books 



There was no daily newspaper, and if there had been, people 
Newspapers would not have received it promptly unless they had lived near 
the printing-office, for even between New York and Philadelphia 
there was a mail only three times a week, and it took three days 
for the mail carrier, or "postrider," to make the journey. Once a 
month the mail went to England. Sending mail from colony to 
colony was expensive, and a letter of a single sheet sometimes 
cost twenty or twenty-five cents, according to the distance that it 
was carried. Writing a letter 
to a friend was not a business 
to be undertaken without con- 
sideration, and this is one reason 
why the letters of those days 
were so carefully and formally 
written. 

But if the colonists had few 
newspapers and few books, they 
read all the more carefully what 
books they did have, and they 
thought about what they read. 
Most of the books were brought from England, but some were 




BURNING OF MR. JOHN IIOGERS 
(From the New England Primer) 



TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 



131 



written in America, chiefly volumes of sermons, discourses on 
witchcraft, and some rhymes so dreary that no one cares to read 
them now. 

Almost the only book that the children could claim as their own 
was a tiny volume called the " New England Primer." This con- The New 
tained pages of Bible questions, such as, " Who was the oldest pJl^mer 
man ? " or " Who was the meekest man ? " There were long lists 
of hard names, " To teach children to spell their own," said the 
heading; and the Puritan boys and girls must sometimes have 
wondered how learning to spell Methuselah would teach them to 
spell John, but they would never have dared to ask. There was 
a picture of a man tied to a stake and burning to death because 
he did not believe in the king's church. 

There were verses that this man wrote not long before he was 
put to death, and there was an alphabet with a picture and a 
rhyme for every letter. This began, — 



In. A dam's Pall 
We finned all. 




and ended, — 




ZacchettsIig 
Did climb the Tree 
Our Lord to fee. 



There, too, was the children's evening prayer, " Now I lay me 
down to sleep." This was the children's especial book, and they 
read it and re-read it till all the early copies were so worn out 
that there are no more to be found. 

Poor Richard's Poor 
Almanac," written by Benjamin Franklin. Besides having tides, Alma^na/ 



A famous book that came once a year was 
Imanac," written by Benjamin Franklin. Besi 
eclipses, etc., like other almanacs, it had good advice put into 



132 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




FRANKLIN'S PRINTING PRESS 
(Now owned by the Bostonian Society) 



Traveling 



rhyme and little stories, and such proverbs as "Great talkers, 
little doers," and " Tongue double brings trouble," " Doors and 
walls are fools' paper," and " He who pursues two hares at 
once does not catch one and lets t' other go." There were 
often puzzles and riddles to be answered in the next 
number. Some households had httle other reading 
except the Bible. The children must have watched 
eagerly for the time when the new almanac would 
come, and they could have new stories and see if 
their guesses of the puzzles were correct. 

Getting new clothes was a weighty matter. In 
the North the wool or flax must be raised, spun, 
and woven. In the South, even if a gown was to 
be bought and not grown^ it generally had to be ordered from 
England ; and as at least three months would have to pass before 
the buyer could receive it, deciding what to send for was a seri- 
ous business. Travehng was difficult. To go from Philadelpliia 
to New York took three days by stage-coach, and when it was 
announced that one was to make the journey in two days, people 
thought the name, the "Flying Ma- 
chine," was well deserved. Every 
one who visited a city expected 
to have many commissions for 
his friends. Stage drivers 
and postriders "did er- 
rands." Not so very many 
years ago, an old lady on 
Cape Cod said that in her early American stage 

youth she and her friends always sent to Boston by the captain 
of the packet boat for their bonnets, "And they were pretty 
ones, too," she added. 

Many of the things that the colonists would gladly have made 




TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 



133 



for themselves, the English law forbade them to manufacture. If England 
they began to make hats, for instance, straightway the English manufae- 
manufacturers of hats would get a law passed forbidding them to ^^^^^ 
make hats. Colonists were commanded to trade with England 
only, although they might be able to do much better in dealing 
with other countries. Even if one colony traded with another, a 
tax must be paid. The old " navigation laws " were 
enforced as far as possible, and now all goods brought 
to America, or even taken by sea to another colony, 
must travel in English or colonial vessselb. 

Of course, looking back, we can see how 
unjust and unwise these laws were, but 
in Europe they were regarded by al- 
most all people as perfectly fair. Both 
France and Spain made far more _^'^ 
severe, laws for their colonies, and ^ - 
indeed, colonies were expected as ti 
matter of course to be a gain to the ^ ' 
mother country. 

The colonists broke these laws as 
far as they dared. Articles were 
sent from one colony to another 
without the payment of any tax, 
foreign goods were smuggled into 
the coast towns, ships that had never been near England went 
back and forth among the settlements. We wonder how any one 
could have helped seeing that trouble would surely come. 

The French wars cost a great amount of money. France might 

possibly try to regain the land that she had lost, and the king and England 

his advisers thought it would be best to keep an army of British decides to 

tdx trie 
soldiers in America to be ready to oppose the French. England colonies 

decided to tax the colonies to help pay for the war and the new 




FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON 

(Called, on account of the patriotic meetings held there, 

" The Cradle of Liberty ") 



134 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



^rits of 
assistance 



standing army. The colonists answered, " We do not wish to 
have a standing army, and we have given more than our share to 
the war, for we raised and paid as many men as England." The 
colonists' objections made no difference, and England determined 
to collect in two ways the money needed. One was by imposing 
a few new duties and by enforcing the laws in regard to trade. 
As long as France had power in America, England had not dared 
to be very strict in demanding the taxes on goods brought from 
France and Spain, or very severe in punishing smuggling. Now 
she determined that every penny that the laws allowed should be 
collected. 

The king's officers had the right to have a warrant written by 
the court allowing them to search any special house in which they 
had reason to think there might be smuggled goods. Now they 
obtained what were called writs of assistance. These allowed the 
officers to go into as many houses as they chose without having a 
separate warrant for each one, and if the doors were barred, they 
could call upon the sheriff to break in. This made the 
colonists indignant, but it was acqprding to an old 
English law, and never would have caused the Revo- 
lution. 

The second way of collecting money was by requir- 
ing every legal document, like a will or a mortgage, 
to be written on paper stamped in England. An extra 
price must be paid for the stamp, and if there was no 
stamp, the document was of no value; for instance, 
4 STAMP ACT STAMP if a man bought a house, he received a deed, or writ- 
ten paper, saying that the property was his, but if there was 
no stamp on the deed, then he could not defend his right 
to the house in the courts. After the Spanish War, the people 
of the United States obeyed such a law to help pay the cost 
of the war; but the men whom we had chosen to make our 




TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 135 

laws were the ones who decided to raise the money in this way, 

and we could find no fault. 

The stamp tax was quite a different matter, and the colonists 

replied, " In England, the House of Commons is elected by the Right of 

people, and therefore has the right to tax them. We have no House"of 

representatives in the House of Commons, therefore it has no Commons 

- , , , , „ denied 

right to tax us. 

When the legislature of Virginia knew that such a law had been 
proposed, they protested to the House of Commons. Patrick Henry, The Virginia 
the greatest orator of the colonies, made a brilliant speech. " Caesar P^o^^st 
had his Brutus," he said ; " Charles the First, his Cromwell ; and 
George the Third — " The cry of "■ Treason! treason ! " was heard, 
and Henry ended quietly, " may profit by thei]- example. If this 
be treason, make the most of it." The assembly voted not to obey 
the law. So it was that " Virginia rang the alarum bell." 

King George was really up against a big difficulty. In the 
United States we take a census every tenth year, and divide the How 
seats in the House of Representatives in proportion to the popu- tow^ard the 
lation. Now in England nothing of this sort had been done for colonies 
more than two hundred years. The result was that country dis- 
tricts with even fewer inhabitants than they had had two centu- 
ries before, had just as many representatives ; while large cities 
were allowed no more representatives than they had had two 
hundred years earlier, although their taxes had increased enor- 
mously. It was then exactly the same question in England and 
in the colonies. Shall there be taxation without representation ? 
The king and his friends, said yes; the colonists and the wiser 
statesmen and large numbers of the EngUsh people said no. 

In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed, though many clear-headed 
statesmen in England were against it. Edmund Burke said it was The Stamp 
unjust. Wilham Pitt, who was always a friend to America, said, ^^ 
" England has no right to lay a tax upon the colonies." The colo- 
nies from New England to Georgia rebelled. The streets were 



136 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Opposition 
by the 
colonies 



Repeal of 
the Stamp 
Act 



full of crowds. Images of the men appointed to sell the stamped 
paper were hanged or burned or driven about town in the govern- 
or's best coach with a figure of Satan for companion. The lieu- 
tenant-governor of New York threatened to fire upon the rebellious 
colonists. "You'll be hanged to a lamp-post if you do," was the 
answer, and he did not fire. In some places buildings were torn 
down, and every scrap of stamped paper that could be found was 
burned or tossed into the ocean. 

It was not all " mob law." The assemblies met and declared 
that it was right to resist tyranny. Lawyers agreed that no deed 
or will should be called illegal for the lack of a stamp. The news- 
papers came out with a skull and crossbones for a heading, or with 
black borders indicating the death of liberty- During the French 
and Indian wars, Benjamin Franklin, then editor of a paper pub- 
lished in Philadelphia, had printed a picture of a snake cut into 
several parts, labeled with the names of the different colonies. It 
was an old superstition that a snake cut into pieces would live 
if the pieces were united, and under this picture Franklin printed 
the motto, " Unite or die." This became a favorite emblem. 

In one respect the colonists had matters in their own hands. 
They said, " We will not buy English goods." No orders were 
sent to England, and ships that crossed the ocean with goods to 
sell had to carry them back. Then the 
English manufacturers begged Parlia- 
ment to give up the tax, and the act 
was repealed. Parliament declared at 
the same time that it had the right to 
tax the colonies, but no one thought 
much about that, and if King George 
III. had not been so unwise and so obstinate, there would proba- 
bly have been no Revolution. 

After a little while, new taxes were imposed, and English 
soldiers continued to come to America. Some were sent to BoS" 




FRAfTKLIN'S DEVICE 
(The initials indicate the colonies) 



TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 



137 



The "Fathei 
of the Revo- 
lution" 



ton, and one night a quarrel arose between them and some of The Boston 
the citizens. The soldiers fired and killed five. It shows how 
aroused the colonists were that they called this the "Boston 
Massacre." It shows how anxious they were to be fair that 
when the soldiers were tried for murder, they were defended by 
two prominent lawyers, John Adams and Josiah Quincy, Jr. 
Adams said a few years later that this was " one of the best pieces 
of service I ever ren- 
dered my country." 

The colonists re- 
fused to buy any of 
the goods on which a 
tax was demanded. 
Many of them agreed 
to buy nothmg made 
in England so long as 
there were duties on 
any goods. One of the 
strong men in this par- 
ty was Samuel Adams, 
who has been called the 
" Father of the Revo- the boston massacre in king (now state) 

. . „ STREET 

lUIlOn. (From Paul Revere's engraving) 

George III. and his "Friends," as those who supported him 
were called, formed what they thought a very shrewd scheme. The tax on 
The Americans used much tea, and a large part of it was smug- ^^ 
gled from Holland. It was decided to allow tea to be sent to 
America and sold at so low a rate that even with a duty of three 
pence a pound it would be cheaper than the tea that was smuggled. 
" The people will buy the English tea, and the rebellious leaders 
will be left without support," thought the king, and the tea was 
sent over to the large cities on the coast. 




138 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



to large 
cities 



Charleston stored the tea sent there in damp cellars, where it 
Tea brought soon spoiled. Philadelphia forbade her pilots to guide the tea- 
ships up the Delaware. New York would not let them enter the 
harbor. In Boston the matter was more difficult. The ships 
were in the harbor. They could not leave without the royal 
governor's permission, and he refused to give it. Nineteen days 
they lay at the wharf. On the twentieth day, the custom-house 
officers would have a legal right to unload them, the men who 

had ordered the tea would pay the 
duty, and then they would have pos- 
session of the goods. 

The people of Boston came together 
in the Old South Meeting- House. All 
day long they discussed what it was 
best to do. In the evening two hun- 
dred men appeared in the street and 
marched quietly toward Long Wharf. 
They wore blankets, their heads were 
muffled, and what could be seen of 
their faces was copper-colored. A man 
who saw them wrote cautiously to 
a friend, "They say the actors were 
Indians from Narragansett," but every 
one knew that they were white men 
from Massachusetts. When they came 
to the wharf, they leaped on board 
the tea-ships. Every man drew out a 
hatchet from under his blanket, and 
it was not many minutes before Boston Harbor became a vast 
teapot, for every chest had been broken open and all the tea was 
in the water. Then the " Indians " went quietly to their homes, 
and the " Tea-party " was over. 




PULPIT OF THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE 



The Boston 
Tea-party 



TIMES BEFORE THE REVOLUTION 



139 



The brig Peggy Stewart brought to Annapolis some packages 
of tea among other goods. The vessel could not be unloaded till 
all taxes were paid ; therefore the owner paid the tax 
on the tea. Before this, he had signed the agree- 
ment not to buy or import goods taxed by England 
for revenue, and now the people of Annapolis were 
so angry that they threatened to destroy the brig. 
To prevent a riot he burned his own boat, tea 
and all. This settled the matter in Maryland. 

The king was determined to punish these 
bold colonists, Boston should suffer first, 
he said, and in 1774 the "Port Bill" was 
passed, which forbade ships coming to the 
city or leaving it. Boston would lose the 
money that she was making from trade, and 
would soon be glad to apologize and pay 
for the " Tea-party." So the king thought ; 
but instead of being frightened, the other 
colonies stood by Massachusetts and sent 
her all kinds of provisions. Even far-away 
South Carolina sent ship-loads of rice. Cat- carpenters- hall, PHiLADELPmA 
tie and sheep were driven into Boston in flocks. England had 
said that ships should go to Marblehead instead of to Boston; 
but Marblehead said at once to the Boston merchants, " Use our 
wharfs and our warehouses without charge." 

The Virginia House of Burgesses was in session. The brilliant 
orators Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee made stirring 
speeches, and the House voted to defend their liberties with arms, Virginia's 
if the need should arise. The day on which the Port Bill was to ^"'^""^^ 
take eft'ect they set apart for prayer and fasting. Washington noti- 
fied his constituents of this. George Mason bade his family attend 
church in mourning. 




140 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

England's treatment of Massachusetts aroused the colonists to 
The first send delegates to a meeting called " The First Continental Con- 
Congr"e^ss*^' gress," which was held in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia. The Car- 
penters' Company knew that the king's oflBcers might take their 
hall away for allowing the " rebels " to use it ; but the only care 
they took was to mention no names on their record. They said 
merely, " Voted : That they be allowed to use our hall." 

The list of names is an honor roll of heroes. From Virginia came 
Washington, Henry Lee, Edmund Pendleton, and the wise and 
dignified Peyton Randolph, who became President of the Congress. 
Massachusetts sent Samuel and John Adams. Edward Rutledge 
came from South Carolina, Philip Livingston from New York, and 
other notable men from the different colonies. This Congress sent 
a respectful petition to the king, telling him frankly what rights 
they thought belonged to them and in what ways they thought they 
had been treated unfairly. 

SUMMARY. 

In the eighteenth century there were not so many inhabitants in the English 

colonies as there are now in New York and Philadelphia. 
Slavery was fast disappearing in the North, and was not always looked 

upon with favor in the South. 
Mails were slow, and postage was expensive. There were few books, and 

England's refusal to permit manufactures was arousing discontent 

among the colonists. 
England decided to tax the colonists because of the expense of the French 

wars and her wish to station an army in America to guard the colonies 

against the French. 
To raise the money, the trade laws were enforced, new duties were imposed, 

and the use of stamped paper was required. 
The colonists refused to buy English goods, and resisted the Stamp Act. 

All taxes were repealed except that on tea. 
The attempt to force English tea upon Boston resulted in the Boston Tea 

party. In retaliation, Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill. 



FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 141 

This treatment aroused the colonists to hold in Philadelphia the First Con- 
tinental Congress, which sent a petition to the king. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK 

Describe the journey of a postrider from New York to Philadelphia. 
A man tells in 1773 why there will probably be war with England. 
A description of the Boston Tea-party. 
A letter of sympathy to a Bostonian after the passing of the Port Bill. 



XVI 
THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 

1775. 

The Americans had little hope that the king would pay any 
regard to their petition, and they were ready to fight rather 
than yield to injustice. In almost every colony companies 
were formed and drilled, while in various places arms and 
ammunition were stored. General Gage, who was at 
the head of the British troops in America, decided to 
send eight hundred of his men to Concord, Massachu- 
setts, to seize the powder and cannon that he knew were 
there. Another thing that the troops were to do was to 
seize Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that they 
might be taken to England and tried for treason. 

This plan would have succeeded, but the Ameri- 
cans were on the watch, and before the British were 
ready to start, Paul Revere galloped through the 
darkness, past the villages and farmhouses on the 
way to Concord, telling every one that the Regulars were coming. 
Thousands of the Americans had become " minute men," that is. The battle of 
they had agreed to be ready to fight at a minute's notice. When Lexington 




POWDEK-HOUSE NEAR BOSTON 

(Where the British seized some 

powder Sept. 1, 1774) 



142 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The retreat 
of the 
British 



tlie British troops came to Lexington to seize John Hancock, there 
stood the minute men on the green. "Disperse, you rebels!" 
shouted the commander. "Lay down your arms and disperse!" 
Not one laid down his gun. " Fire ! " cried the commander. In 
a moment, seven Americans lay dead, and the Revolution had 
begun. This was on April 19, 1775. 

At Concord the British began to destroy the arms, but so many 
minute men were upon them that there was nothing to do but to 
retreat to Boston. The farmers pursued. Longfellow tells the 
story of the retreat in his " Paul Revere's Ride : " — 

" How the British Regulars fired and fled, — 
How the farmers gave them ball for ball, 
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall, 
Chasing the red-coats down the lane, 
Then crossing the fields to emerge again 
Under the trees at the turn of the road, 
And only pausing to fire and load." 




Colonists 
hasten to 
Boston 



Long afterwards, when Benjamin Franklin was in Eng- 
land, some one said that liiding behind a wall and 
firing was no way to fight. Franklin asked quietly, 
but with a sly twinkle in his eye, " Did n't those stone 
walls have two sides ? " 

Men whose names were to become well-known hur- 
ried to Boston, and although General Gage was in 
command of the British troops and had been ap- 
pointed by the king governor of Massachusetts, he was really a 
prisoner in the city, for he was surrounded by many thousand 
men. Among these men was Israel Putnam, of Connecticut, who 
had left his plough in the field and started for Boston as soon 
as the news of the battle of Lexington reached him. There was 
also Benedict Arnold with sixty volunteers. Arnold suggested 
that Fort Ticonderoga, at the northern end of Lake George, ought 



uiiiuiii 



THE MINUTE MAN 

(D. C. French's statue at 

Concord) 



FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 143 



to be captured, not only because there was in this fort a great 
supply of powder and guns, but because if no AiBericans were 
there to prevent, the British troops could come down from Canada 
and take New York. 

With the permission of Massachusetts, Arnold set out to raise 
troops in the western part of the state ; but much to his surprise, The capture 
he found there Ethan Allen, a sturdy Vermonter, with his " Green xiconderoga 
Mountain Boys," and they, too, were on the way to capture Fort 
Ticonderoga. Allen had more men, and the " Boys " would not 
fight under any one else, so Arnold went on, not as commander, 
but as a volunteer. The two men and the 
" Boys " came upon Ticonderoga when the gar- 
rison were fast asleep without a thought of dan- 
ger. The commander was suddenly aroused by 
a demand to " Surrender ! " He jumped out of 
bed, not more than half awake, and said, " To 
whom ? By whose authority ? " " In the name 
of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Con- 
gress," roared Ethan Allen, and the fort was sur- 
rendered. This was only three weeks after the 
battle of Lexington. 

On that same day, the Second Continental Con- 
gress was meeting in Philadelphia. John Hancock, -; 
whom the king was so anxious to catch, was made 
president. Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and 
his cousin John Adams, Patrick Henry, the great 
patriotic orator, and Wasliington, were all members 
of this Congress. They knew that war must come, 
and they adopted the forces around Boston as 
the "Continental Army." A commander-in-chief 

must be chosen, and every one remembered how skillfully Wash- Continental 
, , » T^ , , , , Army organ- 

ington had saved part of Braddock's army at Fort Duquesne ized 




ETHAN ALLEN 

(From the statue in the Vermont Statu 

House, Montpelier) 



144 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




SAMUEL ADAMS 
(From Copley's portrait) 



when he was only twenty-three years of age. He was from the 

^^ ^ large colony of Virginia, and the election of 

a southern commander for an army which 
was as yet made up wholly of northern men 
would help to strengthen the union among 
the colonies, so Washington was elected com- 
mander-in-chief. 

He set out on horseback for the eleven 
days' ride to Boston, but before he had gone 
many miles from Philadelphia, he heard what 
had happened in the east. General Gage was 
in Boston, and the American troops were in 
a half circle around the city. Gage knew that 
if they should come a Uttle nearer and fortify 
Bunker HiU 
and Breed's 

Hill, they could fire into his 

camp. He decided to seize Bunker 
The battle of Hill. The Americans found out 

the plan, and when Gage awoke 

June 17, 1775, ready to send men 

to the hill, behold, the Americans 

were putting up earthworks. 

They were not on Bunker Hill, 

to be sure, but they had come 

even nearer and were fortifying 

Breed's Hill. General Gage and 

his officers thought just as Brad- 
dock had thought, that nothing ,^ "^^"^ ^J'/'^j' ^ „^ 

'^ ' " (From a portrait by Trumbull) 

could withstand British Regu- 
lars, and he decided to storm the hiU. The Americans had too 
little powder to waste a single charge. " Wait, boys, wait till you 



Bunker Hill 




FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 145 

can see the whites of their eyes," called Colonel Prescott. Nearer 
and nearer came the British. " Fire ! " ordered the commander, 
and there was such a volley that the brave, well-trained Regulars 
broke ranks and ran. Again they charged, again the Americans 
fired, and again the Regulars fled. A third time the British 




BURNING OF CHARLKSTOWN AND THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 
(Drawn by a lintisli officer at the time £roin lieacon Hill) 

dashed up the hill. The Americans' powder had given out ; there 
was nothing to do but to retreat ; and they retreated, not down- 
cast, but jubilant, for they, the untrained farmers and citizens, 
had twice driven back the British veterans. 

The great elm in Cambridge under which Washington took Washington 
command of the army is still standing. The house in Cambridge mand of the 

which was his headquarters is the one that was for so many American 

forces 
years the home of Longfellow. The poet writes : — 

" Once, ah, once, within these walls, 
One whom memory oft recalls, 
The Father of his Country, dwelt. 



Up and down these echoing stairs, 
Heavy with the weight of cares, 
Sounded his majestic tread ; 
Yes, within this very room 



146 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The last 
appeal to the 
king 



Montreal 
and Quebec 
attacked 



Sat he in those hours of gloom, 
Weary both in heart and head." 

It is no wonder that he was weary. Thousands of men were 
looking up to him for orders. They were jubilant over Bunker 
Hill ; they had not forgotten the glories of Louisburg. Many 
would have been glad to plunge into another battle anywhere at 
any moment. Washington saw that bravery alone would not 
always win the day, that there must also be drill and training. 
There must be powder and cannon. It was not time to fight. 
Meanwhile Congress met agam. Samuel Adams said that the 

colonies had cut loose from 
England, then why not de- 
clare them independent? 
Others said, " No ; let us 
try once more." A last 
petition was sent to the 
king, and the man chosen 
to carry it was a descendant 
of William Penn. This did 
no good, for the king would 
not even read the paper. It 
was not easy to get English- 
men to fight their own peo- 
ple m America, and he hired 
many thousand German 
troops called Hessians. 
For the king to call in 
foreigners to fight his own subjects, who felt that they were ask- 
ing only for justice, made the Americans more indignant than 
ever. They learned that the British meant to come by the way 
of Lake Champlain and seize Fort Ticonderoga, so they decided 
to attack Montreal. Benedict Arnold suggested marching up 




GREAT ELM IN CAMBRIDGE 

(Uader which Waahington took command of the 

Continental army) 




FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 147 

through the Maine forests to capture Quebec. It was a terrible 
journey. The men must make their way over swamps, among 
briers, across swiftly flowing rivers, and through the tangled under- 
brush. Many died. The others, sick, and weakened by their lack 
of food in the wilderness, made their way to the city on the rock, 
climbed up to the Plains of Abraham, and called upon the garri- 
son to surrender or else come out 
and fight. The commander would 
do neither. General Montgomery 
had led a second expedition by 
way of Lake Champlain, and he 
soon came from his victory over 
the English at Montreal. There bkitish caknon captured in the eevolution 
was fighting, and if Montgomery had not been slain and Arnold 
disabled, Quebec would probably have come into American hands. 
This was on the last day of 1775. In that year the Americans 

had taken Ticonderoga and Montreal, but they had been defeated Events of 

1775 

at Bunker Hill and at Quebec. The greatest gam of the season 
was that they had lost their fear of the British Regulars. 

1776. 

The year 1776 began. Washington still trained his men and 
did his best to collect powder and cannon. The Americans be- Washington 
came impatient. "Why doesn't he do something?" they com- ^oops^'^ 
plained. John Hancock, who owned many houses in Boston, said, 
"Burn the town and drive the British out." Washington was 
wiser than they, and he waited; eight long months he spent 
teaching his brave fighters to become an army. March came. 
Many cannon had been dragged all the way across Massachusetts 
from Fort Ticonderoga, and now he could " do something." Gen- 
eral Gage had gone back to England, and General Howe had 
taken his place. 



148 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The evacua- 
tion of 
Boston 



One night General Howe had little sleep, for Washington's 
cannon roared until mornmg. When it was hght, the astonished 
British commander saw that all this firing had been done only 
to keep him from finding out that the Americans were fortifying 
Dorchester Heights, now a part of South Boston. " Drive them 
from the Heights," said the commander of the fleet, " or we must 
leave the harbor." The American fortifications grew stronger 
every hour. The British remembered Bunker Hill, and, brave 

men as they were, they did 
not care to storm another hill 
with Americans at the top. 
March 17, 1776, Howe and his 
army sailed away for Hahfax. 
This is why Boston celebrates 
the Seventeenth of March as 
Evacuation Day. 

The British did more than 
to take themselves away ; they 
carried with them nearly a 
thousand citizens who stood 
by the king, and, either be- 
cause of haste or because the 
boats were crowded, quanti- 
ties of powder and many can- 
non were left behind. The 
presence of these articles was 
as welcome to the Americans as was the absence of the British. 
Howe would surely go to New York, thought Washington ; there- 
fore he and his army went to New York to be ready for them. 

July 4, 1776, saw the great event of the year. Two days earlier. 
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia had moved in Congress, " That these 
united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent 




JOHN HANCOCK'S HOUSE IN BOSTON 
(On Beacon Street, near the Stale House. Demolished 1863) 



FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 149 




states." The resolution had been passed, and now there lay on a The Declara- 
table in the State House in Philadelphia a document. It was the I'ndepend- 
famous Declaration of Independence. Fifty-six ence 
men signed their names to it. That was all, but 
this act was the beginning of the United States. 
The man who wrote the Declaration was 
Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian, and one of the 
youngest men in Congress. He was a lawyer, 
a musician, a skillful horseman, a student, a 
gentle, kindly man, but firm as an oak in the 
THE LIBERTY BELL causc of liberty. It required much courage to 
sign this paper ; for, if England won, the signers would be looked 
upon as the leaders of the rebellion and would receive the most 
severe punishment. " We must all hang together, or we shall 
hang separately," said Franklin. John Hancock wrote his name 
in a large, bold hand, " So that King 
George can read it without specta- 
cles," he declared. When Charles 
Carroll signed, some one jestingly 
said, "You are safe, for there 
are so many CarroUs in Mary- 
land that the king will not know 
where to find you." " I '11 show 
him," repUed Carroll, and wrote 
" of Carrollton " after his name. 

The, colonies, or rather states, 
had declared their freedom; but 
could they force England to ac- 
knowledge it, and could they win the aid of any other country ? 
No one could tell, but, nevertheless, there was great rejoicing. It The Liberty 
began in Philadelphia with the ringing of the " Liberty Bell," as 
the beU of the State House was afterwards called. Strangely 




OLD STATE HOUSE IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1789 
(This building is now known as Independence Hall) 



Bell 



150 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




THOMAS JEFFERSON 
(After the crayon portrait by St. Memin) 



The king's 
offer of par- 
don 



enough, the lettering on the bell read, " Proclaim Uberty through- 
out the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof." 
This bell was cast just before Washington 
carried the letter through the wilderness to the 
French. Another message was to go to them 
before long, but this time Franklin was to be 
the messenger. 

South Carolina had some good news to con- 
tribute to the rejoicing. British ships had 
appeared off C'harleston, but on an island in 
the harbor Colonel Moultrie had built a rough 
fort of palmetto logs and sand. An officer 
who had fought in Europe sneered at the 
work, but when the enemy came, the little 
home-made fort saved the city. Ever after this, the fort was 
called Fort Moultrie in honor of the 
leader whose wisdom and bravery had 
saved his state. 

While the Declaration lay on the 
table in Philadelphia, Admiral Lord 
Howe, brother of General Howe, was 
crossing the ocean with more soldiers. 
He sent a letter to Washington ad- 
dressed to " George Washington, Esq.," 
but the American commander would 
not receive it because he thought it an 
impertinence to the states that he should 
not be addressed as commander-in-chief 
of the army. An envoy came to see 
him, and told him that the letter contained the king's offer of 
pardon to all rebels who would cease to rebel. " We have com- 
mitted no fault," said Washington, "and we need no pardon." 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
(From a painting by Duplessis) 



II 



FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 151 



**Has your Excellency any message for Lord Howe?" asked the 
envoy. " Only my particular compliments," answered Washington 
courteously. 

Washington had been right in gomg to New York, for the Washington 
British planned to get possession of the city and the Hudson ^^^^ ^^^ 
River. The Americans had no warships, and if the British could 
keep New England and the 
South apart, they could 
conquer them separately. 
Washington held New York 
and two small forts, one on 
the north end of Manhattan 
Island and one across the 
Hudson. He also held 
Brooklyn Heights on Long 
Island. General Howe 
meant to take the Heights. 
He had many more men, 
and there was nothing for 
the Americans to do but 
to flee. In the darkness of 
a foggy night Washington 
sent powder, cannon, and 

men across the river in any little boats that he could find, and 
when General Howe climbed into the fort, there was nothing 
there. 

Washington could not hold New York now that the British 
had Brooklyn Heights. He went farther up the Hudson, and the Retreat to 
British pursued. Washington had not nearly as many soldiers as JJarP^^*'' 
would be needful to face them, and there was nothing to do but to 
retreat. Such a retreat as it was ! Congress had no money, and 
the men were but half-clothed and half -fed. They marched across 




l'Entual scene of wak 



152 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The battle 
of Trenton 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWAKE 
(From the painting by Emanuel Leutze) 

New Jersey, stopping now and then to burn a bridge behind 
them. At last they were safe on the Pennsylvania side of the 
Delaware River, while on the Jersey side were the British under 
General Cornwallis. The British could not cross, for Washington 
had taken every boat that could be found. 

Christmas came. It was a sad Christmas for the Americans, 
but the next day there was rejoicing. Twenty years earlier 
Washington had crossed the Monongahela in the floating ice, and 
he was not to be dismayed by the Delaware. " The war is over," 
thought Cornwallis, and he sent his baggage to New York to be 
ready to sail for England. The next news that reached him was 
that this American general, who never would do what was ex- 
pected of him, had crossed the Delaware in spite of the floating 
ice, had marched nine miles to Trenton in a fierce snowstorm, 
had fallen upon the Hessians, half stupefied with their Christmas 
celebration, and had captured one thousand. Cornwallis did not 
sail for England. 



FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE REVOLUTION 153 

1776 was an eventful year. It began with an untried general 
training his men into an army. Before the year was over, the Events of 
British had been driven from Massachusetts and South Carolina, 
the Declaration of Independence had been signed, and the untried 
general had shown that he could fight, or, if it seemed best, tliat 
he could retreat in a masterly fashion, and even in his retreat 
win a victory. 

SUMMARY. 

1775. The first bloodshed of the war took place at Lexington on April 19. 
The battle of Bunker Hill and the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Mon- 
treal encouraged the colonists, though they had failed to take Quebec. 

Washington took command of the American troops around Boston and 

trained them into an army. 
The king hired Hessian soldiers. 

1776. The British troops were forced to leave Boston and were defeated in 
South Carolina. 

The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia by representa- 
tives from the colonies. 

The Americans abandoned Brooklyn Heights and were obliged to retreat 
through New Jersey and across the Delaware River. 

Washington showed his ability in his sudden marches and in his successful 
attack on Trenton. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A boy describes the retreat of the British on April 19, 1775. 
The commander of Fort Ticonderoga tells about the surrender. 
A messenger tells Washington about the battle of Bunker Hill. 
A British soldier describes the evacuation of Boston. 
Read about the early life of Franklin, and write its story. 



154 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



XVII 
THE LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 

1777. 

The British pursued the troublesome American general, and 
Bagging the found' him on a point of land with the Delaware on the west and 
a httle creek on the north. Cornwallis encamped just across the 
creek. He thought, " My men need rest. The other forces will 
be here in the morning. Then we can cross the creek and bag 
the old fox." He slept the happy sleep of the man who sees a 
successful day before him. 
All night long the British sentinels could see Washington's 
The battle of campfires and could hear the Americans digging and throwing up 
Princeton fortifications. When Cornwallis awoke in the morning, he heard 
cannon ; but they were not in front of him across the little creek, 
they were behind him at Princeton. The " old fox " had marched 
his troops around in the night, and was routing the forces that 
Cornwallis was patiently awaiting. The few men that had been 
left to keep up the fires and rattle the spades had slipped away 
through the woods at the last minute, and were helping to win 
the day at Princeton. Cornwallis was too good a soldier not to 
appreciate the brilliancy of this movement, and long afterwards 
he said to Washington, "Nothing could surpass your achieve- 
ments in New Jersey." 

It was not easy to follow the Americans, for they had burned 

Washington the bridges behind them, and Washington made his way safely to 

town ^^^® high land of Mornstown. So long as he was there, the British 

could not pass liim to go to Philadelphia. They decided that the 



I 



LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 155 




(Prom the Trumbull portrait at Vale College) 

best thing to do was to spend the winter in New York, and this 
they did. 

Washington had to meet other difficulties than battles. When 
there is war in these days, some favor it and some do not. So it Difference? 
was in Revolutionary times. Some Americans were ready to give ahout'thef 
their lives and every penny they possessed to win independence, war 
Others thought that it was a wrong and foolish thing to oppose 
their lawful king. Some believed that war was always a crime, 



156 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




The lack of 
money 



Robert 
Morris 



FLINTLOCK PISTOL 
(Given to Washington by 

Lafayette) 



no matter for what reason it was fought. Some joined the army 
for adventure, some to get tlie pay tliat was promised. People 

were people then as well as now. 

The lack of money was a great diffi- 
culty. Congress had issued paper money, 
but paper money is of no worth unless 
the government that issues it is able to 
give gold for it that will be of value any- 
where, and no one knew whether this little company of states 
would ever be able to pay what the bills promised. Even the 
truest patriot hesitated to stay in the army with no money to 
send to his wife and children who were starving at home. 
Congress had no power to make people pay taxes or to enlist. 
One man after another gave all that he could. Franklin lent the 
country his little savings ; Washington would accept no salary, 
and he agreed to use his 






STMj Bill entitle. 
Bearer tn recei'ue 
H Sixty Spanifh mill- 
ed D o L L A R s, or 

^^e Value t&reoj- in 
ilGoId or Silvet, ac- 

Ufurdittg ti a Relblu- 
Ution hiffei ^ 'Son- 
''Lrefsii-PfirJef/i^c, 
'^Scj\t.26t^, 1778. 



own fortune to pay the 

soldiers, if Congress failed ; 

but it was Robert Morris, 

a rich banker of Pliiladel- 

phia, who was the real 

"financial backer" of the 

Revolution. Washington 

was the winner of battles, 

but Robert Morris made it 

possible for him to have 

an army. Samuel Adams 

was the " Father of the Revolution," Washington was the general, 

and Morris was the banker. 

Frankhn fought no battles, and he had Uttle money to give. 
The thing that he gave was influence, the power to persuade men 
to do as he wished. Not long after the Declaration, Franklin and 




CONTINENTAL PAl'EK MONEY 
(Two thirds of the real size) 



LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 



157 



Lafayette 
comes to 
America 



two others had been sent to France to try to win the help of the Franklin in 

French king. So long as the revolt was only a rebelhon, the king ^^^^^^ 

could have nothing to do with it ; but if there was good hope 

of its being a successful revolution, he was ready to strike a blow 

at the land that only twenty years before had driven him out of 

his possessions in America. It began to appear that Washington 

was a great general. There was once a Roman commander who 

could not only fight, but who weakened his enemy by " prudent 

delay." His name was Fabius, and 

Washington began to be called the 

"American Fabius." The French 

king hesitated. 

Meanwhile Franklin became the 
fasliion in France. The Parisians 
dehghted in even his whims and 
oddities. Every one wanted to 
see how " Poor Richard " looked 
and to hear him talk. The govern- 
ment moved slowly, but there was 
a rich young nobleman named 
Lafayette, only nineteen years old, 
who would not wait for king or 
councilors. He bought a ship, fitted 
it out, invited some veterans to go 

with him, and sailed away for the land whose independence he 
meant to help win. The Americans rejoiced at his coming, and 
he was happy with them. " I feel as if I had known them twenty 
years," this boy of nineteen wrote home. Lafayette was a brave 
soldier, and the veterans who came with him were of the greatest 
help to Washington in training his troops ; but of most impor- 
tance was the evidence that friends across the seas would surely 
help America if she could only endure a httle while longer. 




LAFAYETTE 
(From a contemporary engraving) 



158 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Burgoyne's 
invasion 



During the winter the British government planned for Genera] 
Howe to go up the Hudson ; for General Burgoyne to come down 
from Canada, capturing Fort Ticonderoga on the way, and for 
another hody of troops to come from Lake Ontario down the 
Mohawk Valley. All three would meet, and the British would 
control the State of New York. 

Burgoyne captured Ticonderoga. Food, horses, and ammuni- 
The battle of tion had been collected in the little Vermont village of Benning- 
Bennington ^^^^ ^^^ Burgoyne planned to send some solchers to take these 
supplies. The plan might have succeeded if it had not been for 
Colonel John Stark, a New Hampshire man who had fought in 
the French and Indian wars and at Bmiker Hill. In the promo- 
tions Congress had not done him justice. He w^s too indignant 

to serve in the army ; but 
when the British invaded 
his ovm state, for Vermont 
was then claimed by New 
Hampshire, he raised eight 
hundred men, asked an 
American officer to lend him 
a regiment, and marched 
out to fight. "I'm under 
no man's command," said 
he. " I take my orders from 
the State of New Hamp- 
shire." His men had no 
uniforms, and their weapons 
were anything that they 
could get, but they carried the day. Congress pardoned Stark for 
making war all by himself and appointed him a brigadier-general. 
Burgoyne was in great danger, but if the troops could come 
down the Mohawk, he would be saved This expedition had 




REGION OF BURGOYME'S INVASION 



LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 159 

come as far as Fort Stanwix, where Rome now stands. There The Amerl* 
had already been fighting. The Americans had dashed out of the ^^" ^^ 
fort and captured five British flags. They hoisted them upside 
down, and far above them there floated the most remarkable 
banner that ever waved in the New York wilderness. One sol- 
dier gave a white shirt, another an old blue jacket, and a third 
contributed some strips of red flannel from his wife's petticoat. 
So it was that the flag adopted by Congress was made, and for 
the first time " Old Glory " swung out to the breeze.^ Benedict 
Arnold had been sent to assist the soldiers at Fort Stanwix. He 
contrived to spread the rumor ahead of him that Burgoyne had 
been defeated. The British fled back to Lake Ontario. 

These rumors became true not long afterwards, for General 
Howe seemed to think cHiefly of capturing the "rebel capital," as Burgoyne's 
he called Philadelphia, and the paper ordering him to go up the surrender 
Hudson and help Burgoyne lay in the desk of a man in London 
who had gone oft' for a vacation and forgotten all about it. Two 
battles were fought near Saratoga, and Burgoyne was obUged to 
surrender. One of the soldiers wrote : — 
" The seventeenth of October 

They did capitulate; 
Burgoyne and his proud army 

Did we our prisoners make." 

The main event of 1777, the third year of the war, was the 

failure of the British to gain the Hudson. To prevent this, Wash- Events of 

1 777 

ington had lost PMadelphia ; but the enemy could be driven from 

Philadelphia; while the British, once in full possession of the 
Hudson, could have conquered the country at their leisure. His 
skillful retreat across New Jersey, his victory at Princeton, and 
his masterly fashion of delaying the enemy when he could not 
fight them, had won the attention of Europe, and had given his 
* !Fiske's American Revolution. 



160 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



soldiers that confidence in their leader without which the most 
competent general is helpless. Still, if Washington had known 
what lay before him in the next few months, it seems as if even 
he would have quailed. 



1778. 
The British forces were in Philadelphia, comfortably housed, 
Valley Forge well fed, giving balls, and amusing themselves. Washington and 
his men were at Valley Forge. A small stone house which is still 
standing was the headquarters of the commander. One room is 
devoted to portraits of him, but in those harassing days he had 
httle thought of his own portrait. It was 
bitterly cold. The men were in huts of 
woven boughs, or any rude shelter that 
they could make. There was not even 
straw enough for their beds, and many 
a man sat by the fire all night because 
he had no blanket. Shoes were lacking, 
and the bare feet left blood on the snow. 
Meat failed, sometimes bread failed. 
The country was not poor, but Con- 
gress had httle power and none too 
/ much wisdom. 

The arrangements for providing 
I \:---_-^ the army with food were absurd. 

4 Men were appointed to positions 

.i^^^ii— which they had no idea how to 
A REvoLt'TioNAUY DANCE fill^ aud men whose bravery de- 

served a great reward were passed over. A conspiracy was 
formed against Washington. He knew of it, but went on calmly 
through even the sufferings of that terrible winter. 
The great gain of those dreary months was that the army was 




LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 



161 




finely drilled for future work. Baron von Steuben, a great German Baron von 
soldier, came to America expressly to help Washington train his j^fj^g ^^g 
barefooted, half-naked men, France had sent him, for she had American 
decided to help the colonies, and she wished the American army 
to be drilled by a thoroughly competent 
drill-master. Baron von Steuben was 
hot-tempered. He would storm at the 
men in a mixture of German and French, 
and call for some one to come and scold 
them for him in English. The next 
minute he would applaud their quick- 
ness in learning the difficult manoeu- 
vres. The men were fond of the gruff, 
kind-hearted old soldier, and were most 
willing learners. 

When Franklin in Paris heard that 
Howe had captured Philadelphia, the 

old philosopher said, "Howe has not -^&"'i^ -:::::^9i<:; 

taken Philadelphia, but Philadelphia has ^-^^^^ ^o^ steuben 

taken Howe," and that was really the way it seemed. He was 
in the city, but Washington was only twenty miles away, and Howe in 
Howe could not well do anytliing but stay in the city, and feel ' adelpnia 
as happy as possible over the fact that he had taken the " rebel 
capital." 

Spring came. A French fleet was on its way to help the Amer- 
icans. The British had found that it was of no use to stay in Aid is coin- 
Philadelphia, and they started to bring their forces together in *"^ 
New York. Washington pursued. There was a battle at Mon- 
mouth, now Freehold, and had it not been for the insolent disobe- 
dience of a jealous officer, it would have been a great victory. 

All the summer and autumn of 1778 there were no great 
battles, but there were skirmishes in many places between small 



162 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Tories 



Clark saves 
the North- 
west 





Indians and bodies of troops. In one way some of these attacks were worse 
than the real battles, for the British had induced the Iroquois to 
join them. Bands of these savages, the most fierce 
of all the Indians of the east, were led by Tories, 
or men who still wished to be under the king. 
They fell upon little settlements in New York 
and Pennsylvania, and tortured and mur- 
dered the helpless people with the most ter- 
rible barbarity. 

The " far West," or what is now Indiana 
and lUinois, was in danger. There were 
forts and old French 
towns here and there, 
and the English thought 
they could unite the 
Indian tribes and de- 
stroy these settlements, a backwoodsman of 

,^ ^ , „ , . THE KE VOLUTION » 

u nrortunately for their 
schemes, a young Virginia surveyor 
named George Rogers Clark also had a 
scheme. Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick 
Henry, who was then governor of Vir- 
ginia, approved his plan, and he set out 
for Indiana with a few men. When his 
messengers returned to Virginia, they 
had a thrilling story to tell, for the 
adventurous young surveyor had taken 
Vincennes and other places. He had 
driven back the British, and had actu- 
ally won for the United States the vast expanse of country be- 
1 From the statue in Richmond of Andrew Lewis, a Revolutionary leader 
in Kentucky. 



A FEENCH FKUiATE 



LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 163 

tween the Ohio and the Great Lakes, and as far west as the 
Mississippi. 

The British had failed in their two attempts to win the State 
of New York, their plans to conquer New England had not sue- The British 
ceeded, and now they decided to begin at the southern end of the ^^^^^ ^eor- 
line of colonies and try to get possession of Georgia. They were 
successful, and they began to feel as if this plan would surely 
conquer the rebellious colonies. 

The year 1778 began with the sufferings at Valley Forge, and 
ended with the loss of Georgia ; but, on the other hand, during Events of 
this year France had become the ally of America, and the "far 
West " had been saved for the states. Such a year could hardly 
be called unsuccessful. 

1779. 

There had been many sea fights between English and Ameri- 
can vessels. Sometimes one side won, and sometimes the other. The Bon 
The greatest naval fight was between the British man-of-war Rjc^aTdand 
Serapis and the American ship Bon Homme Richard, so called in the Serapis 
honor of FrankUn's "Poor Richard." It took place just off the 
coast of England. The captain of the American vessel was a 
Scotchman named John Paul Jones. After an hour's cannonad- 
ing, the captain of the Serapis called, "Have you struck your 
colors ? " "I have n't yet begun to fight," shouted Captain Jones. 

In these days a naval battle is carried on by cannon between 
ships many miles apart, but in Captain Jones's time one vessel 
sometimes clutched the other with grappling hooks, and there was 
a short, savage, hand-to-hand fight on deck. So it was between 
these two vessels, and the Bon Homme Richard was victorious. 
England could endure to lose a battle on land, but to be so 
thoroughly defeated on the ocean and just off her own coast was 
humiliating. It was a little embarrassing to claim to be " Mi§- 



164 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




FIGHT BETWEEN THE SERAPIS AKD THE BON HOMME R1GUAS,D 

(From a painting by Richard Paton) 

tress of the Seas," when in a fair fight one of her new men-of-war, 
well-armed, and manned with a trained crew, had been beaten by 
an old American ship with poorer guns and a crew from at least 
six or eight different nations. It is no wonder that other countries 
began to feel more and more confident that America would win. 



Both Eng- 
land and 
America in 
difficulties 



1780. 

In 1780 both America and England were in difficulties. Amer- 
ica needed money. Had it not been for the gifts and loans of 
France, she would have had to yield before. The paper money of 
the Continental Congress was only laughed at, and the old phrase 
of scorn, " not worth a Continental," has not yet gone out of use. 
Washington said, "It takes a wagon-load of money to buy a 
wagon-load of provisions." England needed friends, for France 
and several other countries had united to oppose her. 

England had failed in New York, but she had succeeded in 
Georgia, and she meant to take South Carolina and work her 
way north. At first aU went smoothly, for CornwaUis captured 



LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 



165 



V 1 R '-. 



Cam.l.L--., ' 7V WUiSington C 

S O U T H N --.JJ ^ 'V 

-r^ Fort Moultrie 



Benedict 
Arnold 



Charleston and Camden. Soon he wrote home, " But for Sumter Guerrilla 

and. Marion, South Carohna would be at peace." Marion was ^g'^s^outh 

called the "Swamp Fox," but this would have been as good a 

name for almost any of the fighters who were such a trouble to 

Cornwallis. They hved in the swamps and on the mountains, 

and whenever the English felt especially secure, a band of these 

men would suddenly dash out, shoot a few " red-coats," rescue 

a handful of prisoners, and be out of sight before the enemy had 

a fair look at them. Indian warfare had been a good training for 

the Americans, and the Regulars- 

never could become accustomed to 

this exceedingly irregular fashion 

of fighting. 

Among Washington's most 
trusted oflQcers was Benedict. Ar- 
nold. He had helped to capture 
Ticonderoga, he had led the march 
through the Maine wilderness, he 
had gone to the aid of Fort Stan- 
wix, and he was one of the two 
men who had forced Burgoyne to 
surrender. Congress had not pro- the seat of wak in the south 
moted him as he — and "Washington — thought he deserved. 
Instead, however, of behaving so nobly that every one would see 
that Congress had made a mistake, he committed such a crime 
that people felt that Congress had been in the right. 

The one thing that the British wanted most was to gain control 
of the Hudson. The strongest fort on the river was at West Arnold's 
Point. Arnold asked Washington to give him command of it, '"^^^"^ 
and Washuigton did so willingly, and without the least suspicion 
that his trusted officer meant to surrender it to the enemy. Major 
Andre was sent by the EngUsh to make the final plans. He was 




SCALE OF MILES 



166 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



captured, papers showing Ms mission were found in his posses- 
sion, and he was hanged as a spy. Arnold escaped to the British 
lines. He received a large amount of money and was made an 
officer in the British army, but he was despised for being a traitor. 
Andre was risking his life to serve his own country, and although 
by the custom of war he was hanged, every one was sorry, and 
wished Arnold could have been in his place. 
The traitor is said to have asked an Ameri- 
can prisoner what his countrymen would 
do with him if they caught him. "They 
would bury with the honors of war the leg 
that was wounded at Quebec and Saratoga, 
and the rest of you they would hang on a 
gibbet," was the answer. 

This terrible treason of the man whom 
he had trusted was a heavy blow to Wash- 
ington. Tears fell from his eyes, but in all 
his sorrow and wrath he remembered the 
grief and anxiety of Arnold's wife, and sent 
her a message that her husband had escaped. 
So ended the year 1780, saddened by losses 
in the South, by the treason of a trusted officer, and by suffer- 
ings at Morristown, where Washington's army wintered, equal to 
those at Valley Forge. 




MAJOR ANDKE 
(From a portrait by himself) 



A hard win- 
ter at Morris- 
town 



1781. 

During the winter of 1780-81 the soldiers were freezing and 
starving, and seemed almost ready to revolt, but when British 
spies offered high pay to any one who would desert and join the 
English army, the men indignantly refused. 

Washin^rton was keeping close watch on the Hudson, but in the 
South CornwaUis held South Carohna. General Greene was sent 



II 



LATTER PART OF THE REVOLUTION 167 




THE StTKHENDER OF CORNWALLIB 

(From Trnmbuirs picture in the Capitol at Washington) 



against him. Sometimes one lost and sometimes the other, but, 

losing or winning, Greene was marching across North Carolina, 

and the British were pursuing. In the middle of the summer 

Cornwallis went to Yorktown, Virginia. The English ships would Cornwallis 

soon bring aid from New York, he thought. So they would, but af^YorktowD 

the French ships were coming, too. Lafayette, whom he called 

"the boy," was pressing nearer. Washington suddenly dashed 

across the country and joined his ally. The French ships were 

on one side, the American forces on the other ; there was nothing 

to do but to yield. October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered. 

The news came to Philadelphia in the night. It was the custom 

for the watchman to call the hour and say, " All is well ;" but that 

night he called, "Past three o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken!" 

Except for a little trouble with the Indian allies of the British, 



168 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



the war was over. The Americans were free, and now it re- 
mained to be seen what they would do with their freedom. 

SUMMARY. 

1777. Washington's ability as a commander won respect in Europe. 
Franklin gained friends in France, and Lafayette came to aid the Americans. 

1778. The British took Philadelphia, but their plan to cut New England 
from New York failed, and Burgoyne's army was captured at Saratoga. 

The Americans suffered much at Valley Forge from cold and hunger, but 
France promised aid and Clark saved the Northwest for the United 
States. 

The British planned to take Georgia and work to the north. 

1779-1781. The victories of the Bon Homme Richard increased European 
confidence in the final success of America. 

Arnold's treason was a great blow to Washington and to the country. 

The surrender of Cornwallis in 1781 practically closed the war. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

One of Comwallis's soldiers writes home what happened on the Delaware^ 

Describe the making of the flag at Fort Stanwix. 

A day at Valley Forge. 

A British soldier describes one of Marion's attacks. 



Disagree- 
ments 
among the 
colonies 



XVIII 
THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 

1782-1789. 
The thirteen colonies had stood together to resist the king, but 
now each one began to think what would be best for itself. There 
were many difficult questions to settle, and no one had any right 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 




WASHINGTON RESIGNINO HIR rOM-\IISSTON AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 
(From Trumbull s painting in the Yale Art Gallery) 

to settle them. The most pressing matter was how to raise 
money. Congress could impose taxes, but if a state did not 
choose to pay them, there was no power to make it ; and some 
people said, " We would not let Parliament tax us, and we will 
not let Congress." During the war, the Americans had paid no Financial 
debts to British merchants, and, indeed, had been forbidden to 
pay such debts. Congress now requested the people to pay, but 
they did not obey. England retaliated in several ways, one of 
which was to pass laws that injured American commerce. The 
Americans could not make any such laws against England and so 
force that country to treat them fairly, because a law that might 
be of advantage to one state might not be of value to another, and 
they could not agree among themselves what laws to make. Each 
state was looking out for itself, and there were so many disagree- 



170 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The North- 
western Ter- 
ritory 



The Consti- 
tution 



The Presi- 
dent's term 
of office 



ments that few people in Europe believed the union would last. 
" They '11 soon come back," thought George III., " and ask to be 
under our rule again." Some of Washington's officers even began 
to plot to have a kingdom and make their commander king, but 
he sternly rebuked them for thinking of such a plan. 

Fortunately there was one thing in which every state was inter- 
ested, and that was the Northwestern Territory. Several states 
had claims upon it, but at last it was agreed to put the whole area 
into the hands of Congress in the hope that it could be sold to 
settlers and the war debt paid. Any state leaving the union 
would lose its share of the vast amount of money that, it was 
thought, would be realized from this land. 

Six years after the surrender of Cornwallis, it was decided to 

hold a convention in Philadelphia " to form a more perfect union," 

and then it was that our Constitution was written. This was not 

an easy thing to do, for each state was guarding its 

own rights, and was afraid of having less power than 

the others. 

How to represent the people fairly was the hardest 
question. " A large state should have more represent- 
atives," said one. " A small state has its all at stake 
just the same as a large one," declared another. At 
last it was decided that each state, whether large or 
small, should choose two men to send to Congress, and 
so the Senate should be made up. Men should also be 
THE PRESIDENT'S ggnt to fomi the House of Representatives, and the 

ARMCHAIR IN , j j i i i i i 

INDEPENDENCE numbcr of these sent from each state should depend 
upon the population of the state. 
How long the President should be in office was another hard 
question to decide. Some said one year. " That is not long enough 
for a man to accomphsh anything," said one party. " Let us have 
it seven years." "A dishonest president would gain too much 




BALL 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 



171 



The Su- 
preme 
Court 



power in seven years," the other party declared. Finally the term 

of four years was decided upon. It was also agreed that Congress Congress 

should make the laws, that the President should have power to 

oblige people to 

obey them, and 

that the Supreme 

Court, formed of 

judges chosen by 

the President, 

should settle all 

disputes about the 

meaning of the 

laws. 

There was much 
discussion about 
this Constitution i]sal'(;ukati(k\ of Washington 

in the different states, but at last all thirteen adopted it. Then 
each state chose electors, or men to vote for a president. Every The first 
one of the electors voted for Washington, and in 1789 he became President 
the first President of the United States. 




1789-1817. 

The first difficulty for the states to meet was the lack of money. 
The Continental Congress had never been able to pay what it The lack of 
borrowed, and no foreign nation would lend them a dollar. A ^vise ^°^^y 
man named Alexander Hamilton was made Secretary of the Trea- 
sury, and so it became his business to suggest to Congress the 
best way to manage the money affairs of the country. He said, 
"Let us tax all foreign goods brought into the United States 
for sale. This will make the price higher, of course, but it wiU 
3deld revenue and will enable our manufacturers to make many 
things that we now bring from Europe." Then he suggested, 



172 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




The cotton- 
gin is in- 
vented 



" Let us agree to pay all the money that the Continental Congress 
borrowed." His third suggestion was a httle startling, for it was, 
" Let us promise to pay whatever each state borrowed." Finally 
Congress agreed. These suggestions of Hamil- 
ton's were very wise, for those whom the United 
States owed saw that if the government did not 
stand, they would never get their money, and 
every creditor became a friend to the new nation. 
Large amounts of money were soon to come 
mto the country in a way that no one had 
thought of. A young man in Connecticut 
was asked to go to Georgia to teach the 
children of a rich planter. When he ar- 
rived, some one else had been engaged, and 
he was far from home and almost penniless. 
General Greene's widow had met him on the 
long journey south, and she invited him to 
her home. In Georgia the chief business 
was raising rice and indigo, though of late years planters had be- 
gun to sow cotton. Cotton had been brought 
from India before this, and the planters were 
sure of a high price for all that they could 
send to market. They had little to sell, how- 
ever, for the cotton clmgs fast to its small 
seeds, and all these had to be picked out be- 
fore it could be woven. One day a planter 
said to Mrs. Greene, " If we only had a ma- 
chine that would get these seeds out, we could 
all be rich." " Here is Mr. Whitney," she said. 
" He made me this embroidery frame, and if 
any one can make such a machine, I believe 
that he can," The result of the conversation was the invention 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 
(From Trumbull's portrait In Boston) 




FLOWER AND BOLLS 
OF THE COTTON FLAKT 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 



173 



of the cotton-gin, with wliich a man could clear at least fifty times 
as much cotton in a day as without it. 

Southern planters now began to raise much cotton. They Effect of 



__,p-. xi-,p^ cotton-ginoB 
evei mey ^^igg ^^^ 

low. slavery 




WHITNEY'S COTTON-GIN 



did not weave it, but sold it and bought what 

needed ; therefore they wanted duties 

The North raised no cotton, and a large 

share of the northern income came fiuiu 

manufactures ; therefore the North preferred 

high duties on goods that could be made in America 
The cotton-gin encouraged negro slavery. 

Before this, many, even in the South, had 

felt that it would be good to have no such 

thing as slavery, but now large numbers of 

workers were needed, and it was thought 

that the negroes would not work unless they 

were slaves. If cotton was not plenty, the mills in the North 

would make less money, and, therefore, many Northerners were 

willing to have slavery flourish. 
John Adams became president in 1797. Before that time, 

France declared ^^<l^ against England and wished the United Trouble with 

States to join her; but our 
government refused to 
have anything to do with 
European disagreements. 
France was angry and 
began to destroy our ves- 
sels. The French minis- 
ter, Talleyrand, suggested 
that this would be stopped 
K"^^ if the Americans would 
1 bribe some of the officials 
A coTTON-FiELC of the Frcuch government. 



France 




174 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Hail, 
Columbia 



Then Charles Pinckuey, who had been sent to France to repre- 
sent the United States, declared that his country had " millions 
for defense, but not one cent for tribute," These words were in 
every one's mouth, just as in the Revolution every one was say- 
ing, " No taxation without representation." " America is not 
scared," wrote Adams. " France shall do as she pleases." The 
thought of another war made the union of the states stronger. 
This was when the words of "Hail, Columbia," were written, 
though the music had been composed several years before. The 
tune was called " The President's March," and was first played 
when Washington was going through Trenton on his 
way to New York to be inaugurated. Our 
small navy began to attack French vessels, 
and was so successful that France soon 
suggested that we should be friends. 

In Adams's administration, in the last 

month of 1799, Washington died. General 

Henry Lee pronounced the funeral oration, 

and then it was that Washington was called 

" First in war, first in peace, and first in the 

hearts of his countrymen." 

While Jefferson was president, there was 
trouble with Africa. For several hundred 
years the people living in the Barbary States 
in northern Africa had been accustomed to de» 
Suppression mand tribute from all vessels that came their way. If this tribute 
bary pirates ^'^^ ^^^ paid, they would seize the vessels. Any wealthy men 
that might be on board were kept for ransom, and the others 
were sold as slaves. These pirates were so fierce and savage and 
had so many vessels that the nations of Europe had paid them 
tribute rather than run the risk of losing their merchant ships. 
For the lack of warships, the United States did the same thing at 




BAEBABY PIRATE VESSEL 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 



175 




CANNON CAPTURED FROM THF 
BARBARY STATES 



first, but very unwillingly. One officer, sent to pay the tribute. Suppression 
wrote home that he hoped he should never be sent to pay tribute barv Urates 
again unless he could deliver it from the mouth of a cannon. At 
last warships were sent against the Barbary States, and one of 
their chief cities was bombarded. Then the 
ruler thought it was time to ask for a treaty 
with the United States, and to cease meddling 
with American ships. 

About this time the United States suddenly 
became more than twice as large as it had 
been before. When the French and Indian War came to an end, 
the immense tract of land nortli of Texas and between the Mis- 
sissippi and the Rocky Mountains was given to Spain. After a 
while, France gained possession of it again. France owned also 
some land on the east of the Mississippi at its mouth ; and, there- 
fore, if she chose, she could prevent the Ameri- 
cans from using the river. Jefferson sent two Louisiana 
men to see whether Napoleon, emperor of France, P"'"chase 
would sell New Orleans. Napoleon was 
about ready to make war upon England. 
He wanted money, and he did not want 
this land in America, for England could easily 
seize upon it. While the two envoys were 
thinking about New Orleans, he suddenly offered 
them the whole territory known as Louisiana at 
two and a half cents an acre. Such a bargain 
as this was not to be passed, and the land was 
bought. No one knew much about it, and 
some said not a settler would go there for 
a century ; but the purchase would give the 
right to use the Mississippi, and it would prevent England from 
ever holding the land, so that most Americans were glad. 




MERIWETHER LEWIS 



176 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Exploration 
of the west- 
ern land 



The Em- 
bargo Act 



Causes of 
the War of 
1812 




Jefferson sent out a party at once to explore the new territory. 
The leaders were his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, and William 
Clark, whose brother George had saved the Northwestern Terri- 
tory for the Americans. They went up the Missouri, then made 
their way to a branch of the Columbia, and so down to the Pacific 
Ocean, which was, as their journal says, " more raging than pacific." 

The Columbia River had 
been discovered more than 
a century before this by a 
Rhode Island captain, who 
gave it the name of his 
vessel. 

Again the quarrels of 
Europe made trouble for 
A WARSHIP'S GUK-DECK IN 1800 thc United Statcs. France 

and England were at war. Napoleon gave notice that he should 
fire upon any vessel carrying goods to England ; and England 
declared that she should seize any vessel carryuig goods to France 
or to any of the countries that were on the side of France. Con- 
gress believed that both France and England needed our goods 
so badly that if none made their way to either country, these 
declarations would be withdrawn, and so they made a law called 
the Embargo Act, forbidding any American vessel to leave port. 
People who depended upon commerce suffered greatly by this act. 
They spelled its name backwards and called it the 0-grab-me act. 
It hurt the United States much more than France or England 
had done, and before long it was repealed. 

Madison became president. He was a gentle, courteous, schol- 
arly man, but it was during his term of of&ce that a second war 
with England was fought. One cause was the interference with 
our commerce. Another was England's claim that no English- 
man could become a citizen of any other country, and her 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 



177 



exercising what was called the right of search. An EngUsh war- Right of 
ship meeting an American vessel would signal it to stop, and would ^^^^^ 
fire at it if the order was not obeyed. Then the English captain 
would take from the crew of the American ship all the men that 
he thought were Englishmen, even if they had become American 
citizens. If he needed sailors, he would not be particular to make 
sure that these men were of English birth. He would claim that 
no one could teU an American from an Englishman, and so he would 
carry off what men he chose, and force them to enter 
the British navy. The United States had long been 
indignant at this behavior of England, but had not 
been able to prevent it for want of an army. Eng- 
land was engaged in the war with France also, 
but she had a large and well-trained army and 
sixty times as many warships as the United 
States. Nevertheless, this country would bear 
no more, and war was declared. The 
contest is called the War of 1812. 

The first aim of the Americans 
was to conquer Canada, but they did 
not succeed. As the enemy were 
invading the Northwestern Terri- 
tory, it began to be clear that the 
only way to keep them out was to 
gam possession of Lake Erie. A 
young naval officer named OUver 
Hazard Perry was sent to Erie, Pennsylvania, to build a fieet. 

To keep English ships from sailing up the Saint Lawrence, the 
frigate Constitution under Captain Hull was sent at the beginning The Consti 
of the war to cruise about the Gulf. One afternoon he caught the*Guer- 
sight of the British frigate Guerriere, the ship of all ships that he rifere 
was most eager to meet, for he had once been chased nearly three 




OLD IRONSIDES 

(Built in Boston, 1797, and now at the Charlestowa 

Navy Yard) 



178 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

days by the Guerriere and the rest of her fleet, aud he meant 
to have Ms revenge. The British captain was ready, for he 
was sure that he could capture any American vessels "with a 
bit of striped bunting at their mastheads," as he said scorn- 
fully. The fight was not half an hour long. The masts of the 
Guerriere were shot away, and her hull was riddled with cannon 
balls. There was nothing to do but to surrender. The wreck 
was not worth savmg, and it was set afire. New England had 
not favored this war, but when Captain Hull appeared m Boston 
harbor, the city made ready to give him such a reception as she 
had never given to any man before. To sink an English frigate 
was enough to arouse the enthusiasm of this little nation with 
its navy of sixteen vessels. One city gave Hull and his ofiicers 
swords, another presented silver plate. State dinners and decora- 
tions and cheering and illuminations and the waving of flags were 
everywhere. As for England, this victory was perhaps one of 
the greatest surprises that she had ever known, and she became 
more and more surprised as time passed. In the long war with 
France she had taken hundreds of ships and lost only five ; but 
in the first six months of this War of 1812 she "had had six naval 
battles, had lost six ships, and had not taken one." 

The Constitution won so many victories and was so little in- 
Old Iron- jured that the name " Old Ironsides " was given her. Twenty 
sides years afterwards the government decided that she was no longer 

seaworthy and must be broken up. Then Oliver Wendell Holmes 
wrote his famous poem, " Old Ironsides," beginning, " Ay, tear her 
tattered ensign down ! " and- so many were eager to save the ship 
that it was repaired and sailed the ocean for many a year. It is 
now, more than a century old, in the Navy Yard at Charlestown, 
Massachusetts. It is kept in good repair, and will, perhaps, last 
another hundred years. 
Perry and his company of carpenters were at Erie, cutting down 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 



179 



DOi^TGlVEilp' 
THE SHIP I 



PERRY'S FLAG 



trees as fast as they could to build a fleet. There was no time to Perry's vic- 
wait for timber to season, and the ships were made from lumber ^^^^ ^ 
that was almost fresh from the forest. The one that he chose for 
his flagship was named the Lawrence, from a brave officer 
who had fallen in a sea fight a year earher. The last words 
of Lawrence were, " Don't give up the ship ! " and this is 
what Perry put on his flag. The young captain had never 
seen a naval battle, but he went out boldly to meet the 
British fleet. Capturing a flagship is about the same on 
the water as taking the enemy's capital is on land ; but 
even when Perry's flagship was shot so full of holes that 
she was ready to sink, he did not surrender. He and his twelve- 
year-old brother sprang into a boat with the eight sailors who 
still lived, and rowed to another ship of the fleet. There was a 
storm of bullets and cannon balls around them. More than one 
bullet went through the boy's cap, but they reached the vessel in 
safety. " Don't give up the ship ! " swung out from the masthead, 
and in less than ten minutes the British fleet surrendered. Perry 
sent a message to the government, " We have met the enemy and 
^—y ^ they are ours." This 



(!/C''^i,ctr>ux/ 



^ ^-nzj <-/^€>-c^. 



p^^/ ftt^ muC^ /ycfj!te€&' et^ ^tee^nO 



victory cut the Brit- 
ish off from further 
invasion of the North- 
western Territory. 

The war was more 
serious than it other- The Indians 
wise would have been ^{"jj ^ "^' 
because the Indians 
of Canada united 
with the English, and their chief went to Alabama to induce the 
red men there to fight against the Americans. The Indians were 
suppressed by two men who afterwards became presidents of the 



COMMODORE PERRY'S MESSAGE 
(By permission of Harper & Brothers) 



180 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



United States, General Harrison, who won victories in Canada, 
and General Jackson, who was successful in the South. 

When the war with France was over, England sent more sol- 
The burning diers and more vessels. Suddenly word came to Washington that 
ton ^^ ^^*y British ships were at the mouth of the Potomac. The city 

had no fortifications and 
was helpless. The invaders 
swept into the town, burned 
the Capitol, and even the 
Congressional Library, and 
took possession of the White 
House. Dolly Madison, the 
President's wife, saved the 
Declaration of Independence 
and a valuable portrait of 
Washington. Tradition de- 
clares that, like a good house- 
keeper, she also carried away 
to safety her work-bag filled 
with silver spoons. To de- 
stroy Washington gave no 
military advantage. The 
British said it was done be- 
cause the Americans had burned Toronto, There was this differ- 
ence, however, in the two acts : Toronto was burned by soldiers 
acting without authority and the United States disapproved of 
the deed, while Washington was burned under strict orders from 
the British government. Americans may well be ashamed of the 
destruction of Toronto, but they have no such act of barbarism 
to regret as burning a national library. 
Attack on The British ships next appeared before Baltimore. All day the 

Baltimore cannon thundered. On board one of the ships was an American 




DOLLY MADISON 

(From a miniature) 



THE YEARS OF WEAKNESS 



181 



prisoner, Francis Scott Key. The cannonading went on through The Star- 
the night. He watched anxiously every " rocket's red glare," lest Bannlr 
he should see that the American flag had been lowered. Dawn 
came, and the flag still floated. In his relief and joy, he wrote 
"The Star-Spangled Banner." It was printed at once; the air 
was a familiar one, and soon the song was sung from one end of 
the country to the other. 

After more than two years of fighting, England planned to 
make a fierce attack upon New Orleans and so gain control of the The battle of 
Mississippi. General Jackson was sent to defend the city, and 
wherever he went something was usually accomplished. The 
American troops had had little experience, and they were only half 
as many as their enemies. The British soldiers were veterans, but 
their knapsacks, muskets, etc., were far too heavy for rapid move- 
ment. Both sides fought bravely, but the English were terribly 
defeated. 

One especially sad fact about this battle, with its great loss of 
life, is that it was fought in January, 
1815, two weeks after the treaty 
of peace was signed. The only 
way for news to come from 
England to America was 
by sailing vessel, and there 
were few that even with 
fair winds could cross the 
ocean in less than a month. 
This treaty said not one 
word about any rights of 
the Americans to buy and sell as they chose and did not mention The treaty 
the right of search, but after this, England never again attempted ° ^ 
to interfere with American commerce or to search an American 
vessel. Before this war the United States had been looked upon 




FORT McHENEY. BALTIMOEE 
(Where " the Star-Spangled Banner " of the song waved) 



182 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

as a few millions of people who had banded together to free 
themselves from England. After the war it was seen that the 
United States was a nation, able to defend its rights, and to hold 
an honorable place among the nations of the world. 

SUMMARY. 

After the Revolution each colony thought only of its own gain. Congress 

had no power to enforce its laws. The chief thing in which all the 

states had a common interest was the Northwestern Territory. 
A convention held in Philadelphia drew up the Constitution, which gave 

Congress the power to make laws, the President the power to enforce 

them, and the Supreme Court the power to interpret them. 
In 1789 Washington became the first president of the United States. 
The government obtained money by duties on imports, and friends by 

assuming the Revolutionary debts of the colonies. 
The invention of the cotton-gin resulted in an increase in the production 

of cotton, which caused disagreement between the North and the South 

about duties, and encouraged negro slavery. 
Our vessels were attacked by the Fi'ench because of our refusal to aid them 

in a war against England. After we had captured many French vessels, 

France made peace. 
In 1799 Washington died. 

The Barbary pirates were suppressed by our warships. 
The United States bought of France the land between the Mississippi and 

the Rocky ]\Iountains, which was soon explored by Lewis and Clark. 
The Embargo Act was passed in retaliation for the declarations of France 

and England which injured our commerce. 
The War of 1812 was caused by England's interference with our commerce, 

and by her searching our ships and seizing our sailors. 
American attacks on Canada failed ; but American victories on Lake Erie 

and elsewhere kept the British out of our Northwestern Territory. 
Our ships won many victories on the ocean. 
The British burned Washington, but were defeated at New Orleans after 

peace had been made. 



WESTWARD GROWTH 



183 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A sailor describes the search of an American vessel by the British. 
Perry's brother describes the victory of Lake Erie. 



XIX 
THE WESTWARD GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY 




1817-1841. 

James Monroe was the next president. Soon after he was in- 
augurated he made a tour of the country to see the forts and navy- 
yards. Traveling was easier than 
when Washington had to ride on 
horseback from New York to Boston, 
for a man named Robert Fulton had 
invented the steamboat. Steamers 
were already on the rivers and the 
Great Lakes, and before Monroe's 
term of office was over, Georgia sent 
one to Europe. Monroe had a joyful 
reception wherever he went. He wore 
the blue and buff uniform and the 
cocked hat of the Revolution. The old soldiers remembered that The " era ol 
he had been one of them and gave him a comrade's greeting, p^^j. 
One of the Boston papers called the times the " era of good f eel- 
mg," and that described the condition of things so well that the 
phrase went throughout the country. 

In the southeastern corner of the land there was trouble. The 
Creek Indians of Alabama had sided with the British in the War Trouble with 
of 1812, because they felt that the Americans were driving them ^(fies^™*" 
away from their lands. They expected the British to secure the 



FULTON'S STEAMER, THE CLERMONT 



184 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



land for them, and when this was not done, they were more indig., 

nant than ever. In Florida there were Seminoles, negro slaves 

who had escaped from their masters in Georgia, Spaniards, and a 

few English, all of whom were willing to unite with the 

Creeks against the Americans. 

Monroe sent General Jackson to subdue them, and 
he succeeded ; but Congress was a little startled when 
it was known that he had paid no attention to the fact 
that Florida was Spanish soil, and that among 
the men whom he punished were both Spaniards 
and English. There might have been trouble 
if Spain had not been in need of money. The 
result was that she sold Florida to the United 
States. Our country then owned every foot of 
,^ ^. \ what is now United States territory east of 

If -W ~ ^^ Mississippi. West of that river the vast 

If * tract called Louisiana was United States soil. 

Spain still owned what is now Texas and 
Mexico, but she agreed to give up all claim 
to the "Oregon Territory," which was the 
land north of California. 
There was much talk about the Pacific coast just then, for 
The Monroe Russia had taken possession of the land which we now call Alaska, 
and had begun to build trading-posts along the California coast. 
Other nations of Europe were looking for new territory in South 
America. Then it was that the President announced what is now 
called the " Monroe doctrine." It was that European nations could 
not acquire new territory in either North or South America, aud 
that the United States would not permit any European country 
to " interfere vdth any independent American government." 

The Americans were no longer confined to a little strip of land 
along the coast. There were twenty-two states, and two others 




OSCEOLA, CHIEF OF THE 
SEMINOLES 



WESTWARD GROWTH 



185 



were asking to be admitted. The new states had been settled Going West 
chiefly by colonists from the older ones. There were no railroads, 
and the only way for a family to " go West " by land was by wagon 
or on foot. The wagon most often used was called a prairie 
schooner. It was long and low, and was covered with white 
canvas drawn over great wooden hoops. The emigrants would 
ride slowly on day after day, cooking their meals in gypsy fashion 
over out-of-door fires, and sleeping in the wagon. They would 
pick out a good piece of land, build a log house, cut down the 
trees, plant corn and potatoes, raise sheep and cattle, spin, weave: 
and, if all went well, they 
would have a comfortable 
home, where the family 
would at least be sure of 
enough to eat and to wear. 
The emigrant would, of 
course, be wise enough to 
select land that was near 
a river, so that as soon as 
he had any produce to 
sell, it could be taken 
to a market and ex- 
changed for things that 
he could not make. 
Other settlers would come, perhaps a village would grow up , 
around his house ; and he might become a rich man. 

This is what every emigrant hoped, and it is no wonder that so 
many went to the " far West," which then meant states no farther Numbers of 
away than Ohio or Tennessee. One man in Pennsylvania re- grants 
ported that two hundred and thirty-six prairie schooners went 
through his town in a single month. Some of the emigrants had 
set out bravely on foot to find the happy land where the poorest 




EMIGRAJfTS GOING WEST 
ACROSS THE PRAIRIES 



186 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




CHICAGO AS IT WAS IN 1SS2 

had enough. One man and his wife were seen in Pennsylvania 
on their way to Indiana, having already walked from Maine. 
They had a Uttle handcart, in which were all of their possessions, 
and as many of their six children as were too young to make the 
journey on foot.^ 
These people came from all parts of the country, and an im- 
portant question was arising because of 
the new settlements. Should slav- 
ery be allowed in the newly opened 
territory? The North said 
" No," not only because many 
were beginning to tliink slav- 
ery wrong, but because if there 
were more slave states than 
free states, their representa- 
tives in Congress would vote 
against duties, and this would 
hurt the northern manufac- 
turers. The South said "Yes," 
fearing that if there were more 
1 McMaster's History of the People of the United States. 




HENKY CLAY'S BIETHPLACE, HANOVER COUNTY, 
VIBGINIA 



WESTWARD GROWTH 



187 



free states, slavery might be interfered with. She hoped also to The Mis- 
gain representatives enough to abolish duties on imported goods, promise 
Maine asked to be admitted as a state, but the Soutli said, " No, 
we will not have another free state." Missouri made the same 
request, but the North said, " No, we will not have 
another slave state." Finally Henry Clay, " the great 
peacemaker," persuaded Congress to admit both 
states on condition that there should never be an- 
other slave state north of the southern boundary of 
Missouri, that is, 36° 30'. This act was called the 
Missouri Compromise. People felt reUeved and glad. 
" There will be no more trouble about slavery," they 
said. 

In 1824, four years after the Missouri Compromise, 
the United States "had company." Lafayette was 
invited to visit the country as the guest of the whole 
nation. Such rejoicings as there were, and such 
welcomes, not only from the old soldiers who 
had fought under " the boy," but from 
every one who loved his country and appre- 
ciated the help that Lafayette had given so ^• 
generously to win its freedom. He visited ^ 
each one of the twenty-four states, and 
was greeted everywhere as the friend of 
the nation. From each railroad train that comes into Boston from Lafayette's 
the north the tall gray stone monument that stands on Bunker ^*^* 
Hill may be seen. Its corner-stone was laid by Lafayette, June 
17, 1825, just fifty years after the battle, and many veterans were 
present who, as young men, had stood on that hill waiting to " see 
the whites of their eyes." 

When Lafayette was ready to return to France, Congress gave 
him a generous sum of money and more than one half as much 



fW*! 




BUNKER HILL MONUilENT 



188 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The fiftieth 
Fourth of 
July 



Death of 
Adams and 
Jefferson 



land as there is in the District of Columbia. A new frigate was 
named the Brandy wine in honor of the battle in which he was 
wounded, and this was sent to the mouth of the Potomac to carry 

him across the ocean. 

John Quincy Adams became 
president in 1825. When 
_, July 4, 1826, drew near, 

great preparations 
were made through- 
out the land to cele- 
brate the fiftieth 
anniversary of the 
signing of the De- 
claration of Inde^ 
pendence. There 
were speeches and 
cheers and music. Guns 
were fired and bells were rung. When 
night came, the country was ablaze with 
bonfires and illuminations. The use of gas was 
beginning to be common in some of the large cities, and its light 
was so much brighter than that given by candles and whale- 
oil lamps tliat it was looked upon as a marvel. Audiences would 
gaze with wonder and delight when the gas in a theatre or con- 
cert hall was suddenly turned up. 

The whole land was jubilant, but a few days later word came 
that on July 4, while the country was happy in its celebration 
of independence, two men who had done much to win that inde- 
pendence had died. They were Thomas Jefferson in Virginia 
and John Adams in Massachusetts. Grief took the place of joy, 
and black drapings were hung where such a little while before 
there had been only brightness. 




STAGE-COACII 



WESTWARD GROWTH 



189 



To-day the death of a famous man would be flashed over the Slow travet 
world in a few minutes, but seventy-five years ago news traveled *"^ 
slowly, for there were no steam railroads and no telegraph. The 
only way that a message could be carried from New York to 
Pittsburg, for instance, was by 
a man on horseback or by stage- 
coach. When the people in 
Ohio wished to send their pro- 
duce to market, they usually 
carried it in wagons to Pitts- 
burg, and then it went by boat 
down the Ohio and the Missis- j^ 
sippi to New Orleans. Goods f 

sent from New York to south- ^^^ old-fashioned chaise 

ern Oliio had to be carried by wagon across Pennsylvania, or else 
by boat up the Hudson and the Mohawk, across Lake Ontario 
and a part of Lake Erie, and then down the Alleghany to Pitts- 
burg.^ The part of this journey that could not be made by water 
was made in great wagons or ox-carts. 

New York and the other Eastern cities knew that there must 





FREIGHT WAGON 
CFrom an old freight bill) 



be a cheaper way to carry goods to the West, or else the new states The Erie 
would make all their purchases in New Orleans and bring them 
1 McMaster's History of tJie People of the United States. 



190 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Opening of 
the canal 



up the Mississippi in steamboats. It was proposed to dig a canal 
from Albany to Buffalo, There was no dynamite for heavy blast- 
ing and no steam machinery for digging. Every pound of dirt 
must be lifted by a man with a shovel. It was a great under- 
taking. Governor Clinton of New York was much interested in 
its success, and the people who did not believe in the canal called it 
" Clinton's big ditch." " How shall you get back the millions that 

it will cost? "one asked. ''We will tax 
every boat that goes through it," 
Clinton answered. " You '11 have 
nothing but mud for your 
pains," another grumbled ; 
but Governor Clin- 
- ton kept bravely 
at work, and after 
eight long years 
the " big ditch " 
was done. 

There was a 
great celebration 
in Buffalo, and the 
Erie Canal was for- 
mally declared to 
be open. A cannon was fired, then another five miles farther down 
the canal, and so on all the way to New York city. Probably no 
news had ever before traveled five hundred miles so rapidly. Gov- 
ernor Clinton and others went on board some canal boats, fresh 
and new, and made gay with flags and streamers. Horses walking 
the " tow-path " towed the boats along to Albany. Then they went 
down the Hudson to New York city and out into the bay. Two 
kegs of water, brought from Lake Erie, were poured into the sea 
to show that Lake Erie and New York Bay were united. 




A CANAL SHOWING HOKSES, TOW-BOATS, AND LOCKS 



WESTWARD GROWTH 



191 




KEG BROUGHT 
THROUGH THli 
ERIE CANAL 



railroads 



The canal was used so much that even the first year the tolls Enthusiasm 
paid nearly twice the interest. Freight grew cheaper each year, building 
and it was not long before one dollar would carry 
as much weight from Albany to Buffalo as fifteen 
had formerly done. Towns were soon built aU along 
the canal. Other canals were dug, and each one of 
them made it possible for new towns to be built 
and neTY manufactures to be engaged in. There 
was such enthusiasm over canals that some people 
declared it would not be long before there would 
be a waterway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
Canal boats were cheap and safe, but their speed was only four 
miles an hour, and people began to question whether it would not The early 
be better to build railroads. The idea of a railroad was not new. 
Wooden rails had been laid in several places to carry stone or 
earth, and wagons had been dragged on these rails by horses; 
but the use of steam locomotives on railroads we owe to an Eng- 
lishman named George Stephenson. He tried for a 
long time before any one would believe in his 
invention. People laughed at ^^ ^^ . ^ 



it just as they had laughed 
at the "big ditch." "What 
should you do, Mr. Stephen- 
son," asked one man, "if your 
engine was going at full speed ^««^°^' ^^'^ Worcester railroad train of i^ 

and a cow got in front of it ? " " It would be very bad for the 
cow," said the inventor gravely. The new engines were tried in 
America. They went very well on level ground, but they could 
not climb a hill that was at all steep. The road must either go 
around the hill, or else there must be machinery at the top to pull 
the cars up by ropes. The speed was not so very much greater 
than that of a steamboat. The rails were of wood with strips 




192 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Who shall 
pay? 



of iron on top. The passenger cars looked almost exactly like 
stage-coaches, and part of the passengers had to ride backwards. 
Improvements came rapidly. Every year the trains went a httle 
faster, the roadbeds, rails, and locomotives were a little better. 
It was easier for people to go about the country. They learned 
new ways of doing things. They saw new sights and thought 
new thoughts. 

Men had to think new thoughts in those days, for several diffi- 
cult problems were coming up to be solved. There were the two 
old ones, about slavery and about duties, and there was a new 
one, " Who shall pay for these canals and railroads?" The South 
said, "Let each state pay for its own"; the 
North said, " They are for the gain of the 
whole country, and therefore the whole 
country should pay for them." 

When it was time to elect a new presi- 
dent, Andrew Jackson, the sturdy old In- 
dian fighter, was chosen. He was a straight- 
forward, upright man, with a frank, cordial 
manner. He liked to please people and to 
do everything in the simplest way. His 
good-heartedness led him to do one deed 
that was an injury to the country. Reso- 
lute as he was, it was always hard for him to 
Jackson and refuse a friend's request. When he became president, every one 
svstem^^^ who had the least claim upon him begged for some position m the 
government employ, and he could not say No. The only way to 
find positions enough was to turn out the men who were then in 
office. This fashion of favoring one's friends is called the " spoils 
system" from a remark made in jest that "to the victor, belong 
the spoils." 

The hardest question that Jackson had to meet was in regard 




ANDKEW JACKSON 



WESTWARD GROWTH 



193 




vVEii^itiii, iviAlvilyG ilib i'A.MutS SPEECH 
(From the painting by Healy in Faneuil Hall, Boston) 

to what was called " nullification." or making of no force. Con- Nullificatioa 
gress voted to impose duties large enough to make imported 
goods cost more than those made in the United States. South 
Carolina said, " This is an unjust law, for it makes us poor while 
it makes the northern manufacturers rich. It is right for us to 
refuse to obey it, and therefore we shall nullify the act." This 
statement was made in the Senate. Daniel Webster replied in 
the famous speech that closes, " Liberty and Union, now and for- 
ever, one and inseparable." President Jackson did not like the 
large duties, but he meant that the laws of the land should be 
obeyed, and he sent forces to South Carolina to see that the 
duties were collected. Soon after this, Henry Clay, the "great 
peacemaker," persuaded Congress to lessen the duties, and there 
was no outbreak. 

If a government is strong, and people feel safe and have time 
to devote to education, books are sure to be written, Jn the cplp- 



194 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Our first 
great Ameri 
can writers 



Close of 

Jackson's 

term 



nial days few books were written in America whose reading still 
gives pleasure. Even after the Union was formed, people across 
the ocean used to say with a smile, " Not even the Americans 
read the American books ; " but before Jackson's time three Amer- 
ican writers became known whose works were read with pleasure 
on both sides of the Atlantic. They were Irving, Cooper, and 
Bryant. One great difference between their writings and those 
of most of the American authors that had come before them was 
that they did not try to imitate English writers. When Bryant 
described a landscape, he put in American flowers and trees and 
birds ; while the American poets before him 
were inclined to put in larks and night- 
ingales and primroses and "crimson- 
tipped" daisies, without stopping to 
think whether these birds and flowers 
could be found in America. Cooper 
had little to say about lords and 
princes ; he liked best to write 
about the Indians of his own land. 
So it was with Irving. When he 
wrote "Rip Van Winkle," he did 
not make his hero live in some old 
English castle, but in a New York village; and Rip's strange 
adventures all took place on the New York mountains. 

In 1837 Jackson's term of office was over. He was the last 
President that had had anything to do with the Revolutionary 
-War. Not one man was living who had signed the Declaration 
of Independence. The men who had made the country were 
dead, and the land was left in the hands of those that had come 
after them. 

When Van Buren's name is mentioned, the first thought that 
comes to mmd is "hard times," that is, times when no one seemed 




BRYANT'S HOME AT ROSLYN 



WESTWARD GROWTH 195 

to have money to pay his debts. The government had received Martin Van 
for public lands and duties many million dollars more than it ^^^^ 
needed to use, ^d had deposited the money in various banks. 
These banks had loaned it to speculators, and to men who wished 
to build railroads or canals or to buy western lands. Suddenly 
the government decided to divide this money among the states, 
and ordered the banks to return it. The banks called upon the 
speculators and others to bring it back. 

To do this at once was often difficult or impossible; for in- 
stance, men who had borrowed money to buy land where they Hard times 
expected a railroad would be built could not sell their land at a 
fair price till the road was completed, and had no money with 
which to pay the banks. Another trouble was that the govern- 
ment had declared that men who bought western land must pay 
for it in gold or silver ; and, therefore, much coin had gone West. 
The banks united, and said that for the present they would not 
give coin for their bills, and they would make no new loans. No 
one knew what to-morrow's value of the paper money, or " rag 
money," as it was called, would be. Every one wanted coin, and 
whoever had any coin held on to it. Business firms failed, banks 
failed, mills stopped, work stopped, poverty and suffering were 
everywhere. The acts that caused the trouble came before Van 
Buren's term of office, but as the trouble itself appeared while he 
was president, it was always associated with his name. 

After a while the money difficulties passed away, but there was 
another difficulty that was growing' worse all the time, and that Anti-slavery 
was the difference of opinion about slavery. Anti-slavery socie- ^^'^'^^'^s 
ties were formed in the North. William Lloyd Garrison had for 
several years been publishing a paper called the "Liberator," 
whose object was to arouse people to do away with slavery. " It 
is wrong," said these societies, " for one man to hold another as 
his slave." "It is right," said the South, "for us to hold the 



196 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

negro. He is happier and better cared for than he would be as 

a free man," The societies sent pictures and pamptilets through- 
out the land to persuade people that slavery was wrong. The 
South declared that these papers would make the slaves rebel, 
and demanded that the government should forbid such acts in 
order to prevent the danger of a slave insurrection. 
Not all northerners sympathized with the anti-slavery societies 
Differences by any means. Probably most men in the North thought that it 
the North ' would be better if there were no such thing as slavery, but many 
believed that each state had the right to do as it chose hi .the 
matter, and some who would have done anything in their power 
to keep slavery out of a new state thought that no one had a 
right to interfere where it already existed. Anti-slavery papers 
were sometimes taken from the mails and destroyed. A hall in 
which an anti-slavery meeting had been held was burned, and the 
offices of the "Liberator " and other publications of the sort were 
raided. 

SUMMARY. 

During Monroe's term of office, the Seminoles were subdued, Florida was 
acquired, Spain gave up all claim to the Oregon Territory, and the 
Monroe doctrine was proclaimed. Emigration to the West increased, 
and the Missouri Compromise postponed the slavery trouble. Lafay- 
ette became the guest of the nation. 

While John Quincy Adams was president, the fiftieth birthday of the 
nation was. celebrated. Jefferson and John Adams both died on the 
day of the celebration. 

The success of the Erie Canal brought about the building of many other 
canals and railroads, which made new towns and manufactures possible. 

Jackson's enforcement of the law and a decreased tariff prevented nullifica' 
tion in South Carolina. 

Irving, Cooper, and Bryant wrote the first great American books. 

Van Buren's administration was marked by hard times and by increasing 
difference of opinion about slavery. 



TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 197 



SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 



Fulton's difficulties in making the first steamboat. 
Governor Clinton tells why he favors the Erie Canal. 
A ride on one of the early railroads. 



XX 

TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 

People suffered so much while Van Buren was in ofifice that, 

although he was not to blame for their misfortunes, they wished Harrison 

oriH Tvlfir 
to have a man who belonged to another political party. Wiluam ' 

Henry Harrison was chosen president and John Tyler vice- 
president. Harrison was a brave, faithful, upright man, who had 
always done his best and could be trusted to do well whatever 
he undertook. Just before the War of 1812, he had subdued the 
Indians at Tippecanoe in Indiana, and before the election took 
place his friends used to sing an absurd song, which ran : — 

" Oh, what has caused this great commotion 

Our country through ? 
It is the ball that 's rolling on 

For Tippecanoe and Tyler, too ; 
And with them we '11 beat little Van, Van, Van ! 

Van I oh, he 's a used-up man. 
And with them we '11 beat little Van I " 

Perhaps what helped Harrison most was a remark made by 
a newspaper that was opposed to him. It was that Harrison The "log- 
would feel more at home in a log cabin than in the White House, date""^^"'*' 
*' That is just what we want," said his friends. " A man who can 
live in a log cabin, plough his own field, and build his own 



198 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Tyler 

succeeds 

Harrison 



The Lone 
Star State 



house— he's the man for us." Pictures of log cabins appeared 

on flags and medals. Real 
ones were drawn in the torch- 
light processions by stout 
horses or oxen. Mammoth 
log cabins were built for the 
meetings held by Harrison's 
friends, and the "log-cabin 
candidate " was elected. 

Just one month after Har- 
rison was inaugurated he 
died, and John Tyler took his 
place. The chief subject about 
which people were talking was 
the annexation of Texas. The 
land southwest of the United 
States which formerly be- 
longed to Spain had become 
free and taken the name of 
Mexico. Mexico was willing that settlers from other nations 
should form colonies on her soil, and it came to pass that more 
than twenty thousand people from the United States settled on 
the land between the Red River and the Gulf 
of Mexico, caUed Texas. After a while the de- 
mands of the Mexican government became too 
severe to please the Texan- Americans. Just as 
Mexico had fought herself free from Spain, so 
Texas fought herself free from Mexico. She 
then asked to become a state, but for several 
years her request was not granted, and she was a state alone by 
herself. This is why Texas is called the " Lone Star State." 
There were various reasons why people wished or did not wish 




PICTURE FROM THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN 
ALMANAC 




SEAL OF TEXAS 



TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 199 

to have Texas admitted, but the most important one was the ques- The admis. 
tion of slavery. Texas held slaves, and if it became a state, the xe"a°^ 
slave states would gain in power because they would have more 
votes in Congress. There was a long discussion in Congress, but 
finally the state was admitted. The South was triumphant; 
but the abolitionists, as those were called who wished to abolish 
slavery, set to work with more energy than ever. 

People were not thinking about slavery alone. Many a man was 
at work on some invention that would be a gain to the country. Great inven- 
The sewing machine had been invented long before, but it was a ^'°"^ 
clumsy affair. Elias Howe succeeded in making machines that 
were practical. Rubber shoes had been used, but they were thick 
and heavy and they had a fashion of melting when they were left 
in a warm place. Charles Goodyear found a way to vulcanize the 
rubber so it would not melt. " Daguerreotypes " of buildings had 
been taken, but now a way was found to take pictures of persons. 
A vast amount of suffering was prevented by the discovery that 
by inhaling sulphuric ether the most severe opera- 
tion would be painless. Samuel F. B. Morse worked 
for many years to find out the way to send mes- 
sages by electricity. Even after he was sure that 
he could do it, so few believed in him that it was a 
long time before he could persuade Congress to give 

him the money to build a line of telegraph. At ^ telegraph sounder 
last the line was built, and the reverent message, " What hath The first 
God wrought ! " was sent from Washington to. Baltimore. telegraph 

" Telegraph " means " far-writing," and it was a great mystery 
how writing could be done so far from where the message was 
given. Some did not believe any news that the telegraph brought 
until letters had come to prove that it was true. Some believed 
that the wonderful invention could not only carry the news, but 
collect it, and it is said that one woman objected to having a tele- 




200 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



graph pole set up near her house because, as she declared, she 
did not want people all over the country to know what she was 
domg. 
While Tyler was in office, there was much discussion about 
Tlie Oregon what was called the Oregon Territory, that is, the land that now 
°^^ forms Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming and 
Montana, and extends as far north as Alaska. A Rhode Islander 
had discovered its chief river, the Columbia; a Virginian had 
explored the stream ; and a New Yorker had sent out a colony. 
England, too, claimed the land, and for many years the two coun- 
tries had held it in common. 

The southern limit of Alaska is latitude 54° 40', and when it 
was time to elect a new president, one of the pohtical par- 
ties took for a campaign cry, "Fifty-four forty or fight.'' 
The candidate of this party, James K. Polk, was chosen 
president. When he was elected, he declared, " One thing 
that must be done while I am in office is to settle the 
Oregon boundary." In his inaugural address he said that 
the title of the United States to Oregon was clear, that emi- 
grants were going from the east to the extreme west, and 
that the government ought to protect them and their 
interests. A little later he urged that an overland mail 
should be established to go to Oregon at least once a 
month. 

Only a few years earlier it had been a disputed 
question whether it was possible to cross the moun- 
tains in wagons, and whether the Oregon country 
was worth the effort. Few had thought that much 
of it was of any value. In Congress a senator had 
declared, " For agricultural purposes I would not 
give a pinch of snuff for the whole Oregon Territory." The pre- 
sident's address did much to increase the number of emigranta 




MONUMENT AT CHAMPOEG, 
OREGON 

(To commemorate the organiza- 
tion there on May 2, 1X4", of 
the first American gOTernment 
on the Pacific coast) 



TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 



201 



The trains of cattle drawing wagons loaded with furniture, tools, 
food, and clothing grew longer and more frequent. Many of these 
trains went to Oregon. It was a long journey ; it took six months 
to go from the Missouri to the Willamette, but the very fact that 
it was farther from the east than any other part of the country to 
which emigrants had begun to go was one reason why so many 
went, for some people had the feeling that the farther they trav- 
eled, the more successful they would be. 

The number of emigrants increased so that it grew more 
and more important to both England and the United States 
that the boundary line should be settled. Both countries were 
finding out that a part, at least, of the Territory was a rich, 
fertile land; but after all, the chief thing desired by each 
country was to get possession of the Columbia River and the 
inlet south of Vancouver Island. President Polk made it clear 
that this country would not give up any territory south of 49°. 
There was great excitement, and again the cry was heard, 
" Fifty-four forty or fight." After much discussion England 
offered to surrender all claim to the mainland south of 49°. 
This was agreed to, and our northern boundary, at 49°, was 
then completed. From the Lake of the Woods to the Pacific, 
it was marked by iron pillars placed one mile apart, and by ^ aiexican boy 
piles of stones. 

Although there was no fighting with England, the United States 
did have a war while Polk was in office, and it came about because The Mexican 
of the " Lone Star State," for Texas had at last been admitted to 
the Union. The Texans claimed the Rio Grande as their western 
boundary, but Mexico declared that the new state extended only 
to the Nueces. It was because of that strip of land, one hundred 
miles wide, lying between the two rivers, that the war took place. 

General Zachary Taylor was sent to the banks of the Rio 
Grande to defend the American claims. The story is told that 




War 



202 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Campaigns 
of the war 



Acquire- 
ment of new 
territory 







'talo Alio 
GUL F F 



K 



MEXICO 



before the fighting began the Mexican leader said to one of the 
American officers, " If General Taylor will surrender, I can pro- 
mise him good treatment." " General Taylor never surrenders," 
said the officer indignantly, and that speech became the watch- 
word of the campaign. In these Mex- 
ican battles many a man fought whose 
name was to become familiar a few 
years later. Among these men were 
U. S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Jeffer- 
son Davis. General Taylor was uni- 
formly successful along the Rio 
Grande. One division of the Amer- 
ican forces conquered California, and 
another marched from eastern Kansas 
to California, capturing Santa Fe by 
the way. Finally General Winfield 
Scott made a wonderful march from 
Vera Cruz through the enemy's coun- 
try to the city of Mexico. The city 
was captured, and the war was ended. 
One condition of peace was that 
Mexico should sell to the United States California and the land of 
which Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and part of Wyoming, Colorado, 
and New Mexico have been formed. American laws and customs 
were introduced at once into the new territory, and little attention 
was paid to the wishes of the people who were living on the land. 
Even if there had been no question that all American laws were 
better than Mexican laws, these changes were made so suddenly 
and so harshly that they brought about much suffering. Mrs. 
Jackson's story of " Ramona " was written to picture the Hfe of the 
Mexicans at the first coming of the Americans into the territory. 
Part of this land was California. It was known to have a 




^ O • 4 ^■■-i" <-■'»■'. 



DISPUTED TERRITORY OF THE 
MEXICAN WAR 



TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 



203 



delightful cUmate and a fertile soil. After a while it was dis- ^o°Jered^in 

covered that bits of gold were to be found in the beds of gravel California 

on the hills and in the valleys. A man could fill a pan with 

earth, pour on water, wash the gravel over the top of the pan, 

and find in the bottom grains of shining gold. 

When the report of this discovery reached the East, there was 

a wild rush for the "Golden State." Some sailed around Cape The "Forty. 

niners 
Horn, some risked the deadly fevers of the Isthmus of Panama, 

others went across the country, in "prairie schooners," in ox- 
carts, on horseback, or even on foot. The overland route was 
marked not only by goods that had been thrown away when the 
horses became too weak to carry them farther, but by skeletons 
of horses and cattle, and by the headboards , .^ . , ' . - . , 
of hastily made graves. It was 1849 
when these first gold-seekers went, 
and they called themselves the 
"Forty-niners." 

While the Forty-niners were , 
hurrying to California, Zachary 
Taylor, who " never surren- 
dered," was chosen president. 
In a few months he died in ofiice, 
and Millard Fillmore, the Vice- 
President, took his place. Fill- 
more was followed by Franklin 
Pierce, and after him came -James 

Buchanan. During the terms of office of these presidents the 
laws in which people were most interested all dealt AAath slavery. 

The first one came about because so many Forty-niners went to 
California that one year later the territory asked to come in as a 
free state. Much of California was south of 36° 30', and there 
was the same discussion that there had been in 1820 when Mis- 




SAN FRANCISCO IX 184!) 
(From an engraving published in 1855) 



204 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

souri wished to come in as a slave state, but in 1850 it was even 
The compro- more bitter. In 1820 'the great peace-maker," Henry Clay, had 
miseo 5 ppQpQsg(3^ l^]2e Missouri Compromise, and now in 1850 he brought 
forward another compromise. "To please the North," he said, 
"let us admit California as a free state. To satisfy the Sjouth, 
let us pass a new fugitive slave law, and decree that if a slave 
escapes to a free state the United States government shall seize 
him and return him to his master." The third proposal that he 
made was, "Let us agree that the rest of the land which was 
bought from Mexico shall be free or slave territory, just as the 
people who may live there shall decide." Men who settled upon 
land to which they had no title were sometimes called " squatters," 
and this law allowing the settlers to decide whether slavery should 
exist in their territory was spoken of as " squatter sovereignty." 

The compromise was agreed upon, and California was admitted. 
Daniel Webster and many others who did not believe in slavery 
The under- voted for this law, because they feared that the country would b" 
road" ^^ divided if they refused. The slaveholder said, "This negro is 
my property. I paid for him, and I have a right to claim him 
wherever I can find him ; " but when a negro who had made his 
escape appeared before the door of a man who believed that 
slavery was wrong, that man was much inclined to help the fugi- 
tive, even if the government did order that he should be given up. 
Anti-slavery men would hide these runaway slaves, and pass them 
on from one to another, concealed in all sorts of ways, until they 
were safe in Canada. This system was so secret and so success- 
ful that it was spoken of as the " underground railroad." 
People were talking of slavery more than anything else, and 
Qncle Tom's into the midst of the discussion came Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," painting the life of the slave in the darkest colors. The 
North believed that it was a truthful picture and opposed slavery 
more than ever. 



TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 205 

The Missouri Compromise declared that all territory north of Bleeding 
36° 30' should be free; but now, influenced by the friends of 
"squatter sovereignty," Congress voted that, although Kansas 
and Nebraska were north of the line, yet when they wished to 
come in as states, they might be free or slaveholding, as they 
chose. Then there was a struggle to win the new territories. 
Settlers from the slave states round about pressed into Kansas. 
Anti-slavery men in the North became colonists or gave money to 
help to send others. Both parties were sure that they were in 
the right ; both were eager and excited. There were battles be- 
tween them, and for several years there was so much bloodshed 
in the territory that it was called " bleeding Kansas." In a battle 
at Osawatomie, one of the fighters was John Brown, of Connecti- 
cut, who fought so fiercely that he was afterwards often called 
" Osawatomie Brown." The one aim of his life was, as he said, to 
wage " eternal war with slavery," and he had gone to Kansas to do 
everything in his power to make the territory into a free state. 

In 1857 James Buchanan became president; in the next four 

years there was one act that especially aroused the North and one The Dred 

Scott Deci' 
that alarmed the South. The first was what was known as the gjQjj 

" Dred Scott Decision." Dred was a slave. His master kept him 
in Illinois several years, and then carried him back to Missouri. 
In Missouri, Dred was flogged. He said, " No man is a slave in 
Ilhnois; therefore, when I was there, I became free, and my 
master must pay for flogging me." The case went from one 
court to another, and at last the Supreme Court of the United 
States, whose business it is to tell what the laws mean when 
people differ, said, " A slave is not a person ; he is property, and 
his master may take him anywhere." The North cried indig- 
nantly, " That is not only protecting slavery in the states where 
it already exists, it is forcing slavery upon us ;" and the opposition 
became even more determined. 



206 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Two years later came tlie act that alarmed the South. " Osawa- 

John tomie Brown " had left Kansas to live near Harper's Ferry in 

Brown's raid y^j.^^^^^^^ jje thought that with the aid of a few friends it would 

be possible to fortify some place in the mountains where fugitives 

might be safe, and that after a while the slaves might be united 

in a general revolt. To get arms, he seized upon the United 

States arsenal at Har- 
per's Ferry. A fight 
followed ; John Brown 
was captured by 
United States troops 
led by Robert E. Lee, 
tried for treason and 
murder, and executed. 
He had broken the law 
of the land, and his 
punishment was law- 
ful; but so much sym- 
pathy was felt in the 
North with his eagerness to free the negroes that his death 
strengthened the northern hatred of slavery. 

In the South it was thought possible that John Brown was 
supported by many northerners. There might be a general revolt 
Seven states of the slaves, pillage, burning, and murder. The South was fear- 
ful of the horrors that might come, and more angry than ever 
with the North. It was near the end of Buchanan's term. Many 
southerners declared that the South would leave the Union if 
the next President should oppose slavery. " Must a state be kept 
in the Union against its vsoll?" they asked. "Has it not a right to 
secede?" Abraham Lincoln was elected, and the watchword of 
his party was," No more slave states." Seven states. South Caro- 
lina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida^, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas 




HARPER'S FERRY 



secede 



TROUBLE ARISES OVER SLAVERY 207 

left the Union. Franklin's great-granddaughter was present when 
the senators of these seven states withdrew from Congress. Jef- 
ferson Davis was one of tlie senators, and he told her that the new 
government and the old would live side by side and be friendly to 
each other. " The North will never fight the South," he said. " You 
see how quietly they have let us go." 

SUMMARY. 

Texas freed herself from Mexico and was admitted to the United States. 
A quarrel over her boundary brought this country into a war with 
Mexico. 

The telegraph was invented. 

The conflicting claims of the United States and Great Britain to Oregon 
were settled, and the northern boundary of our country was marked. 

California and a vast area of land east of California were ceded to the 
United States by Mexico. The discovery of gold in California caused 
a great westward migration in 1849. California was admitted as a 
free state, and to satisfy the South the Fugitive Slave law was passed. 
Squatter sovereignty did away with the Missouri Compromise. 

The question of slavery became more violent. " Uncle Tom's Cabin " and 
the " Dred Scott Decision " aroused the North ; while John Brown's 
raid alarmed the South. Finally, seven states seceded. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

Morse tells Congress how valuable the telegraph will be. 

A day's ride with a western emigrant. 

A Forty-niner describes his journey to California. 



208 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The South- 
ern Confed 
eracy. 



CONFEDERATE 
BATTLE FLAG 



Lincoln's 

determina- 
tion 



The attack 
on Fort 
Sumter 



XXI 
THE CIVIL WAR 

1861. 

The seven seceding states formed a union, or confederacy, and 
in a little while four others joined them. These eleven were 
Virginia, ^ North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, 
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkan- 
sas, and Tennessee. Jefferson Davis, who had fought 
bravely in. the Mexican War, was chosen president. 
A flag was adopted which had a red field crossed di- 
agonally by wide bars of blue outlined with white. In 
the bars were eleven stars for the secedmg states and 
two more for Missouri and Kentucky, which the Confeder- 
ates expected would secede because those states had sent 
representatives to the Confederate congress. 
Jefferson Davis had said that the northern states would not 
fight, and he had much reason to think so, for President Buch- 
anan was not sure that the government had any right to force a 
state to remain in the Union, and many people in the North agreed 
with him. When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, he said 
that he should not interfere with slavery where it already ex- 
isted, but that he should protect the Union and the property of 
the Union. 

Among these pieces of property were the forts, one of which, 
Fort Sumter, was on an island at the mouth of Charleston harbor. 
In April, 1861, when the government at Washington attempted to 
throw supplies into it, the Confederates demanded its surrender, and 
when Major/Anderson refused. General Beauregard fired upon it. 




THE CIVIL WAR 



209 




Copyright, 1891, bj M. P. Eio» 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
(From an original negative made in 1864, when President Lincoln com- 
missioned General Grant Lieutenant-General and commander of all 
the armies of tbe republic) 

The Union men held out for two days. So much of the fort was 
on fire that the defenders had to lie on the ground with handker- 
chiefs over their mouths to keep from being suJffocated, The 
powder was nearly gone. There was nothing to eat but salt 
pork. Then Major Anderson surrendered. The flag on the fort Surrender of- 
had been shot through and through. Anderson saluted the tat- ^°'"* Sumter 
tared banner with fifty guns, and the little company which had 



210 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



formed tlie garrison marched out with drums "beating and colors 

flying. 

The first gun fired upon Fort Sumter aroused the whole 

country. Before that 
men talked about what 
might happen. Now 
something had hap- 
pened, and every man 
in the land must stand 
for the Union or against 




FOKT SUMTER IN 1861 




A UNION SOLDIER 



it. Lincoln called for seventy-fi,ve thousand men to serve in the 
army, and more than that number offered themselves. Most 
people in the North supposed that the revolt would soon be 
suppressed, and Lincoln asked the men to serve for three months. 
The South, too, raised an army at once, and made ready to 
defend the border line of the seceded states. 
Richmond was chosen as the Confederate capi- 
tal. If the Union men could take Richmond 
or the Confederates could take Washington, 
it would be a great gain to the victors, it might 
even bring the war to an end. Week after 
week passed. " On to Washington ! " cried the 
Confederates. " Why does n't General Scott do 
something ? " complained the Unionists. " He 
could fight in the Mexican War. Why does 
he stand still now ? On to Richmond ! " 

The two armies pressed a little nearer to- 
gether. Neither was ready to fight, but 
each commander felt that he must pay 
some regard to the wishes of his people. 
In Virginia, not far from Washington, is a little river called BuU 
Run, and just beyond it is a railroad that runs from Washington 




A CONB^EDERATE 



THE CIVIL WAR 



211 



to the southwest. If the southern army held this railroad, they Battle of 
could bring men and arms and provisions from the South easily " ^^ 
and quickly, and thus threaten Washmgton. The North meant 
to prevent the capture of the road, and that is why the first great 
battle of the war was fought near Bull Run. General Beauregard 




THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY AND ADJACENT UNION STATES 



had come from Charleston, and was in command of the Con- 
federate forces. He had been educated at the United States 
Military Academy at West Point. Among his classmates was 
Irvin McDowell, and it was McDowell who stood on the other 
side of the little stream, leading the Union army. Another West 
Point graduate. General Jackson, was on the field, fighting for 



212 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



the Confederacy. It seemed at first as if the Union men would 
win, and as they pushed forward upon Jackson, an oflScer shouted 
to his troops, " Look at Jackson and his men standing there like 
a stone wall." Soldiers always nickname their favorite command- 
ers, and from that day the brave general was known among them 
as " Stonewall " Jackson. 
There was a fierce battle, and thousands of men were slain. 
Defeat of the The Confederates were victorious, and the retreat of the Union 
soldiers was a wild stampede. Men, horses, army- wagons, gun- 



troops 



Making an 
army 



Blockade 
runners 



carriages, sutlers' teams, dashed along the road in the maddest 
confusion, while tents, cannon, and provisions were scattered 
along the way. The two chief reasons for the Union defeat were, 
first, that the soldiers had expected to win the day easily ; sec- 
ondly, that they were " green," as Lincoln said, and had no idea 
of the training and obedience required of a soldier. General 
McDowell said that on the march to Bull Run it was hard to 
keep these untrained warriors from leaving the ranks to pick 
blackberries. 

After Bull Run it was clear that the conflict would be long and 
serious. Lincoln called for seven times as many men as at first. 
Another thing that was clear was that bravery alone would not 
make a soldier. The troops must be drilled. General McClel- 
lan spent week after week in training his men. In the autumn 
of 1861 there were thousands of men who wished to fight for the 
Union ; in the spring of 1862 these men had become an army. 

The Confederates had felt almost sure of the favor and support 
of England, for English mills were using large quantities of 
southern cotton, and cotton could not be sent so long as there 
was war. A Union warship watched every important port, and 
a vessel trying to enter or leave the harbor was in great danger 
of being captured. Those that did attempt it were called block- 
ade runners. The risk was so great that an enormous price was 



THE CIVIL WAR 



213 



affair 



charged for the goods that they carried ; and before the war was 

over a pound of cotton that cost four cents m South CaroUna 

could be sold for two dollars and a half m England. Two men The Trent 

were appomted by the Confederates to go to England and try to 

persuade both that country and France to help them. They were 

on board the Trent, a 

British mail - steamer. 

A Union captain obliged 

the Trent to stop, 

and carried away the 

two men. Thoughtless 

people throughout the 

North rejoiced, but 

Lincoln declared that 

this was exercising the right of search, and the men must be given 

up. They were set free with an explanation to England that their 

capture was not approved by the United States government. 




A CONFEDERATE BLOCKADE KUNXER 
(This vessel, the A. D. Vance, was captured Sept. 10, 1864) 



1862. 

The United States government now planned to get control of 
the Mississippi. That would cut Texas, Arkansas, and most of The capture 
Louisiana from the other Confederate states, and would make it Orleans 
easy to transport men and supplies from the North. The first 
step was to take New Orleans, which would prevent blockade 
runners from landing there arms and ammunition or anything 
else that would help the Confederates. 

There was a naval officer named David Farragut who had gone 
to sea as a midshipman when he was only eleven years old. He 
had stood firmly by the Union, but some were afraid to trust 
him because he was of southern birth. The government be- 
lieved in him, and gave him command of the fleet that would, 
it was hoped, succeed in taking New Orleans. The city was 



214 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Merri- 
mac 




AN ATTGTTRT MORNING WITH FARRAGFT 
(From W. 11. Uveiend's painting showing f arragui. in the rigging) 

defended by two forts, by sixteen gunboats, by chains stretched 
across the river, and by rafts of logs. Flat-boats loaded with 
pine-knots or with cotton were set afire and let loose to drift 
down among the ships ; but Farragut avoided the fire-boats, 
broke the chains, cut his way through the rafts, silenced the 
forts, and captured New Orleans. No one distrusted Farragut 
after this. 

While Farragut was on his way to New Orleans, a new sort of 
battle was being fought off the mouth of the James River. A 
Virginia navy yard had been seized by the Confederates at the 
beginning of the war. The Merrimac, a Union frigate taken at 
that time, was cut down to the water's edge and covered with a 
sloping roof of iron, pierced with holes for the cannon. This new 
kind of craft attacked the wooden vessels of the Union. One 
sank, another surrendered, a third, the Minnesota, ran aground. 



J 



THE CIVIL WAR 



215 




ftnd the iron-clad left her destruction until the morning. Should 
she be abandoned ? Trains of powder were laid that she might 
be left and blown up. " Wait," ordered the captain. " And he 
did more than or- 
der," said one who 
was there. "He 
almost begged us 
to stay. We had 
heard about the 
Monitor, though 

we did not know ti:i::'.ii,,, i„ 

whether the Monitor was coming or whether it would amount to 
anything if it did come, but a man does not like to leave his ship, 
and we stayed." Morning came, and with it the queerest little 
vessel that was ever seen. "A cheese-box on a raft," the Con- 
federates called it. This was the Monitor, invented by a Swede, 
John Ericsson. It was made of iron, it carried two guns, and 
the "cheese-box" could be turned so that the guns might be fired 
in any direction. The battle was a severe one, but neither ves- The battle 

sel was destroyed. 



Next day the Mer- 
rimac came out, 
but as the Monitor 
was needed to pro- 
tect Washington, 
it did not engage 
in another battle. 
Later the Confed- 




THE MONITOR 



erates were forced to evacuate Norfolk, and destroyed the Merri- 
mac. This battle made it necessary for all countries to build iron- 
clad naval vessels instead of the wooden vessels that had been used. 
" On to Richmond I " was sttll the cry, and a plan was made 



216 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 





for McClellan to land near Yorktown, march up the Peninsula, 
as it was called, between the Y^ork and the James rivers, meet 
McDowell, and press on to Richmond. " Stonewall " 
Jackson was carrying on a brilliant campaign in 
the Shenandoah Valley, where small bodies of 
Union troops were stationed. Up and down the 
valley Jackson swept, making marches as un- 
expected as Washington's sudden moves, and 
so rapid that people called his army " Stone- 
wall's foot-cavalry." It would not do to let 
McDowell and his troops leave Washington, 
for it was possible that Jackson might suc- 
ceed in reaching that city, and therefore Mc- 
Clellan had to do as best he could without 
them. Richmond was alarmed, and Jefferson Davis's 
niece wrote to a friend, " Uncle Jeff thinks we had 
GENERAL KoBEKT E. LEE bcttcr go to a safcr 
McClellan's place than Richmond." After 
much fighting, McCleUan was 
driven back toward the sea; 
and as there was still fear for 
the safety of Washington, he 
was ordered to come nearer the 
capital. 
There was reason for alarm. 
General Lee for the Confederates were evi- 
dently planning to carry the 
war into the North, General 
Robert E. Lee was now at the 
head of the Confederate army. 
He was the son of a famous 
Revolutionary officer, a West 



attempt to 
take Rich- 
mond 




THE SCENE OF WAR NEAR WASHINGTON 
AND KICHMOND 



THE CIVIL WAR 



217 



Point graduate, and he had served with honor in Mexico. When 
the war broke out, he knew that a position in the Union army 
which might tempt any soldier, would be offered him, but Lee was 
not the man to do what he thought wrong for the sake of posi- 
tion. It was a strug- 
gle for him to choose 
on which side to stand, 
but he decided that 
as a citizen of Virginia 
he ought to follow the 
bidding of his state. 
This was the man 
who was pressing to- 
ward Washington. He 
thought that the peo- 
ple of Maryland would 
be glad to join him, 
and that with them he 
could march against 
the capital ; but the 
Marylanders did not wish to join him. There was a terrible fight 
at Antietam in Maryland, and Lee withdrew into Virginia. 

During the year 1862, the great gains of the Union forces had 
been the capture of New Orleans, the securing of the command 
of the sea, and the withdrawal of Lee from Antietam. On the 
Confederate side, Jackson had swept the Union troops from the 
Shenandoah Valley, and Lee had kept McClellan from Richmond. 




BRIDGE OVER ANTIETAM CREEK 
(From Battles and Leaders of the Civil War) 



Battle of 
Antietam 



1863. 
Civilized nations have adopted a rule that private property 
must not be touched in war except in times of great necessity Contrabands 
unless it is plainly intended to be used for military purposes, °' '^^^ 



218 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

as in the case of guns or ammunition. It is then called con^ 
traband, or illegal, and it may be seized by the opposing side. 
Wherever the Union army appeared, runaway slaves flocked to 
the camp, and what to do with them was a little puzzling. Gen- 
eral Butler, a shrewd man with a keen sense of humor, finally 
solved the problem. When a "master" came to him and de- 
manded the return of some runaway slaves on the ground that 
they were private property, the general said, "No. You will use 
them in making fortifications and in raising corn to support the 
Confederate army. They are contraband of war." After this, 
the negroes were often called "contrabands." 

In time of civil war the President, as commander-in-chief of 
the army of the United States, can do very nearly what he thinks 

The Emanci- wise, provided the greater part of the people approve of his acts. 

fa^mation'^"'^' When the first day of 1863 came, Lincoln signed a paper that is 
almost as famous as the Declaration of Independence. It is called 
the Emancipation Proclamation, and it declared that all slaves in 
those states resisting the Union government were free. 

Tlie governing class of England and the wealthy manufactur- 
ers whose mills were closed for the lack of cotton were eager for 
their country to aid the South by breaking the Union blockade. 
This might possibly have been done, had not the working people 
opposed. Closing the mills had thrown them out of work, and 
many of them were in need, but they were strongly opposed to 
slavery, and the Government did not venture to go against their 
wishes. It did, however, fail to enforce its neutrality laws and 
permitted blockade runners and privateers to be sold and fitted 

The out in English ports. The most powerful of these privateers was 

Alabama ^]^g Alabama. She destroyed more than sixty American vessels, 
but was finally sunk by a Union ship. 

The year 1863 began with the Emancipation Proclamation. In 



THE CIVIL WAR 



219 



May, the Confederates were victorious at Chancellorsville in Mary- 
land ; but they met witli a loss that was worse than a defeat, 
for through a mistake " Stonewall " Jackson was shot by his 
own men. In the month of July there were two great northern 
victories. The first was at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, for Lee Gettysburg 
again invaded the North. Up the valley of the Shenandoah he 
marched, across the, Potomac, 
through Maryland, and into 
Pennsylvania. He planned 
first to take Harrisburg, 
then Philadelphia. He 
came to Gettysburg, lying 
in a peaceful valley, with 
orchards, green fields, farm- 
houses, and away to the 
west the blue mountains. 
Here he met the Union 
forces and fought the 
most terrible battle of 
the war. For three days 
it raged. One man out 
of every four — some say 
one out of every three union line meeting pickett's charge at Gettysburg 

Tvm killefl WOUTlfled (From the Gettysburg Cyclorama, by permission of the National Panorama Co.) 

or missing. Such was the slaughter that men threw themselves 
on the ground and held up bits of white paper to show that they 
had surrendered. Lee was driven back, and retreated into Vir- 
ginia. 

The day after the battle was spent by both sides in burying 
the dead. Four months later, a part of the battleground was set Lincoln's 
apart as a national cemetery. Lincoln made on the day of the gn^eech "^^ 
dedication a short, simple speech, so full of thought and feeling, 




•m».^ tlr^. 



220 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 





MORIAR ton JURO^\I^G SElLLLb 



and appreciation of the honor due to tliose who had given their 
lives for their country, that it will never be forgotten. 

The siege of The second great Union victory was at Vicksburg. If that 

Vicksburg ^Q^yj^ r^^^ Poj.^ Hudson could 

be taken, the Mississippi would 
be in the hands of the Union ; 
but it was not easy to take 
Vicksburg. The city stood on 
a bluff so high that shot could 
not be thrown to it from ves- 
sels on the river, while the 
city guns could easily sink any 
ship that attempted to pass. 
For three months General 
Grant and General Sherman tried to get into a position to attack 
the town. At last they succeeded, and the siege of seven weeks 
began. Day and night the shells were falling. People dug caves 
into the side of the hill to be safe from flying fragments. A lady 
who hved in one of the caves wrote that even the mules in the 

town seemed wild, and the dogs would 
howl madly when a shell exploded. 
Food was scanty. By and by it gave 
out altogether, and finally the brave, 
suffering, starving people surrendered. 
The Confederate flag was hauled 
down, and the banner of the Union 
run up. The whole Union army 
witnessed the scene, but not a cheer 
was given, says General Grant, so 
deeply were the courage and endurance of the people respected. 
One member of the victorious army was the war-eagle, "Old 
Abe," the pet of a Wisconsin regiment. He was in many a bat- 




A UNION RIVER GUNBOAT 



THE CIVIL WAR 221 

tie, and when the noise and confusion were greatest, he would 
flap his wings and scream as if war was his chief dehght. 

A few days later Port Hudson, which lies between Vicksburg 
and New Orleans, yielded, and the Mississippi was in the hands The Mis- 
of the Union. This capture prevented the bringing of troops and union" *" 
supplies from Texas and Arkansas to the aid of the Confederate hands 
states east of the Mississippi. The Confederacy had now no way 
to communicate with Europe. It was shut in upon itself. 

The greater part of the Confederate army was now divided 
between Virginia and the northwestern corner of Georgia, It 
was in Georgia that the hardest fighting of the last six months 
of the year took place. One battle was at Chickamauga. The 
Union forces lost, but it would have been a far more terrible 
defeat if the bold stand made by General Thomas had not 
prevented the rout of the army. The Confederates had had 
a " Stonewall " Jackson. Now the Unionists had a " Rock of 
Chickamauga," for this was the name that the soldiers gave 
to General Thomas. 

Several other battles were fought in that part of the conn- °^° '^^ 
try. The last one was called the " Battle above the Clouds." It 
took place on Lookout Mountain, and the heavy mist settled down 
so darkly that while the eager watchers in the valley could hear 
the sound of the cannon, they could only guess who were losing 
and who were winning. The Union forces won. " God bless you 
all!" came over the wires to General Grant from the weary, 
anxious President in Washington, for every victory brought 
nearer the coming of peace for which he prayed. 

The end of 1863 came. During this year the Confederates 
had been successful at Chancellorsville and Chickamauga, but 
they had lost General Jackson. Lee had kept the Union sol- 
diers from Richmond, but the repulse at Gettysburg had driven 
him from Pennsylvania. The Mississippi had fallen into the 




222 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

hands of the Union, and Union troops had been successful in 
Georgia. 

1864. 

Two men now stood out as the most successful generals in 
The plan to the Union army, Grant and Sherman. Grant was put at the 
end the war ^^^^ ^^ ^^l the Union forces. The two generals formed a plan 

that they hoped would end the war. Grant was 
to face Lee and try to take Richmond; 
Sherman was to cut his way through Geor- 
gia to the sea. 

Grant went into Virginia from the 
north, swept around to the east of 
Richmond, then to the south. There 
were terrible battles. There were 
two days of fighting in a dark, 
gloomy forest called the Wilder- 
ness. The woods caught fire, and 
wounded men were burned to death 
in the blazing timber. There were 
copjnght 1-91, b, M P. K,c. cxploslous of tralus of ammunition. 

GENERAL u. s. GRANT Thcrc wcrc dcusc clouds of the 

(From a picture taken in isi'A when he was 

commissioned commander-in-chief) SmokC of pOWdcr. Suffering mCU 

Battles of lay moaning. The underbrush was crackling in the fire. Men 
the Wilder- gj-^^^ ^^^ their opponents in the darkness, or took aim by the 
glare of the flames. It is thought that about 30,000 men were 
killed. Neither side could claim a victory. 

General Grant pressed on till he was at Petersburg, south of 
In the the Confederate capital. Lee had not men enough to drive him 

Vaflev"'^"^ away, but he could keep him from advancing upon Richmond. 
lie even made the government fear another invasion of the 
North, for he sent General Early through the Shenandoah Val- 
ley toward Maryland. 




THE CIVIL WAR 



223 




CONFEDERATE CAPITOL, RICHMOND 



Sheridan marched out to oppose hun. Early had once been 
within a few miles of Washington and had burned Chambers- 
burg, but now his opponent 
went through the valley with 
orders to destroy everything 
which would feed man or 
beast, that there might be no 
more raids upon Pennsylva- 
nia. It was not long before he 
reported to Grant, " If a crow 
should want to fly through 
the valley, he would have to 
carry his food with him." 

Sheridan was called to Washington, and when he returned to 
Winchester, he heard firing far away. He put spurs to his great Sheridan's 
black horse and galloped on. He met men running to the town. ^ 
" General Early has attacked us," they cried, " and we are beaten." 
" Back ! " ordered Sheridan. " We '11 beat them yet. Face about ! " 

he shouted to the retreating cav- 
alry. They did face about. Early 
was driven away, and the disas- 
ter was prevented. This was the 
'' Sheridan's ride " which the 
poem by that name has made 
famous. 

But while Grant was before 
Richmond and Sheridan was in Where was 
the Shenandoah Valley, where Sherman? 
was Sherman? He was attack- 
ing the Confederate forces in 
northwestern Georgia. The Con- 
federate general, Johnston, had not men enough to meet Sher- 




SHERMAN'S ROUTE TO THE SEA 



224 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 




man, but he retreated after the masterly fasliion of Washington 
in New Jersey. Sherman had to leave guards behind him to 
protect the railroads, and Johnston meant to continue the re- 
treat until so many men had been left that the two armies could 
fight on equal terms. After two months of this retreating, the 
Confederate War Department gave Johnston's command to Gen- 
eral Hood. Hood made bold attacks on 
Sherman, but was obliged to retreat, 
leaving Sherman in possession 
of Atlanta. Then began Sher- 
man's famous " march to 
the sea." He marched 
southeast through the 
state in four col- -- 

umns, twenty 
miles apart, cut- 
ting a swath 
sixty miles wide. 
He burned At- 
lanta with its CORDUROY ROADS IN SOUTH CAROLINA 

mills and foundries. He destroyed railroads and bridges, leaving 
a pitiful ruin behind him. The object of this march was not only 
to cut the Confederacy in two, but to destroy everything that 
would help the Confederates to carry on the war. Just before 
Christmas he entered Savannah, and sent to President Lincoln 
the message: — 

I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, 
with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammuni- 
tion ; also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. 

W. T. S HERMAN". 



r 



So ended the year 1864. The Confederates had burned Cham- 



THE CIVIL WAR 



225 



bersburg, but Sheridan had devastated the valley of the Shenan- 
doah, Sherman had made a wide path of ruin through Georgia 
to Savannah, and Grant had pushed on toward Richmond as far 

as Petersburg. 

1865. 

The year in which the war was to end began. Sherman had a 
hard march before him, and he would not leave Savannah until The end 
his men were rested. They were impatient to go on, and when he '^^^^ "®*' 




WASHINGTON MONUMENT AND CAPITOL SQUARE, RICHMOND 

rode about the camp, they would call out, " Uncle Billy, Grant is 
waiting for us at Richmond." Finally the march through South 
Carolina began. The streams were swollen, the swamps flooded, 
and the roads were often only long lines of mud. The men 
waded, they built bridges, they made " corduroy roads." At last 
they were in North Carolina. Both Sherman and Grant had many 
more men than the Confederate commanders near them, and 
they believed that one more battle would end the war, 



226 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Lee's sur- 
render 



The Union lines were well supplied with whatever was needed. 
The Confederates lacked clothes and provisions. Many of them 
were so weak from exposure and want of food that they could not 
lift their muskets to their shoulders. Lee's soldiers loved him and 
knew his ability as a general, but their families were in need, their 
cause was hopeless, and they deserted by scores. Lee could no 
longer protect the Confederate capital. "Richmond has surren- 
dered," was telegraphed to Washington, and on the 9th of April 
Lee's whole force surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court 
House, a little village west of Richmond. The two generals met to 
discuss terms. It was agreed that the Southern soldiers should lay 
down their arms and return to their homes in peace. The horses 




Oopjrighl, 18S7, by the Century Co. 



APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE 

(From a war-time photograph) 



Grant left with the cavalry. " I hope this will be the last battle of 
the war," he said, " and they will need the horses to work their 
farms." Lee's men had been living for days on parched corn, and 
not very much of that. Grant's first action was to send a generous 
supply of food to the men. 



THE CIVIL WAR 



227 



This surrender was the real close of the war. On April 14th, 
just four years after the fall of Fort Sumter, Anderson was 




Copyright. 1887, by The Cenlurj Co. 

UNION SOLDIERS SHARING THEIR RATIONS WITH CONFEDERATES 
AFTER LEE'S SURRENDER 

sent to take command of the fort a second time. The same old 
flag was hoisted, pierced with the holes of the first shots of the 
war. Late that evening, in the midst of the rejoicings of the The assassi 
defenders of the Union, the telegraph flashed over the country preside°nt 
the message, " President Lincoln has been assassinated," and a;U Lincoln 
the joy was turned into sorrow. He was shot by 
a man who fancied that he was avenging the 
" wrongs of the South." In reality he was mur- 
dering the true friend of the South. Only six 
weeks before, when Lincoln was made President 
for the second time, he said in his inaugural 
speech : — 

"With malice toward none, with charity for 
all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us 

' ° ' ° AN ARMY 

power to see the right, let us strive to finish the canteek 




228 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

work we are in ... to do all which may achieve and cherish 
a just and lasting peace among ourselves." 

SUMMARY. 

1861. The Civil War began with the capture of Fort Sumter. The Union 
forces were defeated at Bull Run. The capture of the Confederate 
commissioners on the Trent nearly made trouble with England. 

1862. The Union forces capture New Orleans. The contest between the 
Monitor and the Merrimac took place. Jackson swept the Shenan- 
doah Valley. McClellan failed to reach Richmond, and Lee withdrew 
from Antietam. 

1863. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The Alabama did 
much damage to Union ships. The Confederates were victorious at 
Chancellorsville, but Lee was repulsed at Gettysburg. The Union 
forces gained control of the Mississippi by the capture of Vicksburg 
and Port Hudson. The Confederates were successful at Chickamauga. 

1864. Grant pressed on to Petersburg. Early had burned Chambersburg, 
and to prevent such raids Sheridan devastated the Shenandoah Valley. 
Sherman marched through Georgia to Savannah. 

1865. Lee was forced to abandon Richmond, and to surrender at Appo- 
mattox Court House April 9th. Four years from the day when Fort 
Sumter fell President Lincoln was assassinated. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

A soldier writes about the attack upon Fort Sumter. 

A boy describes the siege of Vicksburg. 

Two sailors on the Minnesota discuss the possible coming of the Monitor. 



THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 229 



XXII 
THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 

After the war, the government had to decide a difficult ques- 
tion. This was, "Will it be safe to allow the states that wished The position 
to leave the Union i .-^..-^^^-^-..^^ =-^: - -i gg^^g^jg^ 

to send represent- states 

atives to Congress 
and help make the 
laws for the coun- 
try? " Lincoln's be- 
lief was, " No state 
cawleave the Union. 
Some persons have 
raised an insurrec- 
tion, but this has 
been suppressed. These states as states have not forfeited their 
right to send representatives." 

When Lincoln died, the Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, be- 
came president. His belief was almost the same as Lincoln's, but Andrew 
where Lincoln would persuade men, Johnson would try to compel "^^^ 
them, and all through his term of office there were quarrels be- 
tween him and Congress, and many of the laws made at that time 
were made not with the President's consent, but in spite of his 
opposition. 

An addition was made to the Constitution which is known as The Thir- 
the Thirteenth Amendment. It forbids slavery in the United Amendment 
States or in any place governed by the United States. A law 




THE WTHTE HOUSE 

(The ofBcial residence of the President as it appears to-day. The 

corner-stone was laid by Wasliington, Oct. 13, 1792) 



230 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Carpet- 
baggers 



The negro 
vote 




was passed requiring every man who wished to hold office in the 
South to take what was called the " iron- clad oath," declaring that 
he had taken no part in the war. This was an unwise demand, 
for almost every respectable man in the seceding states had taken 
part in the war; and the result of the act was that worthless 

men from the North 
persuaded or bribed 
the negroes to vote 
them into office. These 
men were called " car- 
pet-baggers," because 
they usually had no 
property, and often no 
baggage except a car- 

THE GKEAT EASTEKN LAYING THE ATLANTIC CABLE Y)Q\;^.\)Q^a- YOT a Con- 
siderable time the northern adventurers and the ignorant negroes 
were in power in the South. 

In order to send representatives to Congress, the Confederate 
states had been obliged by the government to grant the negroes 
the right to vote ; but it was not long before the whites had the 
power in their own hands again, for in many places they would 
either frighten the negroes or bribe them, and so keep them away 
from the polls. United States troops were then sent South to 
protect the negroes in their right to vote and to support the men 
who had been lawfully elected ; but the soldiers did not like this 
duty, the whites were angry, and the negroes often suffered more 
than before the troops came. Matters were made a little better 
by the pardoning of those Confederates who had taken part in the 
war, and restoring to nearly all the right to hold office. Though 
there are even now some hard questions to settle about the ne- 
groes, it is probable that very few men in our country, even in 
the South, would be willing to have the days of slavery return. 



THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 231 



In 1866, while Johnson was still in oflBce, Europe and America 
came nearer together. It took Columbus ten weeks to cross the The Atlantic 
Atlantic. The Pilgrims spent nine weeks in sailing from Eng- ^^"^^ 
land to Massachusetts. In 1812, even a swift sailing vessel 
needed a month. Before the Civil War, the invention of steam- 
boats had made it possible to send a message from England to 
America in ten or eleven days. A persevering man named Cyrus 
W. Field was now convinced that a telegraph wire might be laid 
across the Atlantic Ocean. The first attempt faUed, the second 
failed, the third time all went well, but in a few days the cable 
broke. Field's money was gone, and his friends had no more 
that they wished to invest. At last Congress voted to help him. 
This time the cable succeeded. The wire was laid from Ireland 
to Newfoundland, and instead of the New World and the Old 
being ten weeks apart, whatever was done in one continent 
could be known in the other in a very 
few minutes. Whittier wrote of 
this new wonder : — 

" And round the world the thought 
of all 
Is as the thought of one." 

So it was that in Johnson's 
time the Atlantic grew nar- 
rower ; but at the same time 
the United States grew wider, 
for Alaska was bought of Rus- 
sia. Every time that the coun- 
try has bought a piece of land, 

there have been citizens who opposed the purchase for one reason The pur- 
er another ; and when Alaska was bought, some declared that it AJalka^* 
was a foolish, extravagant deed, that the country could "keep 




Photograph by W. H. Partridge 

SITKA, ALASKA 



232 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The 

Alabama 
claims 



house " without a " refrigerator." This " refrigerator," however, 
is just the place for fur-bearing animals, and in a few years the 
fur companies had paid for the right to collect furs much more 
than Alaska had cost. The recent discovery of gold in the Klon- 
dike district of Alaska has greatly increased the value of this 
possession. 

Few were pleased with Johnson's management, and in 1868 
General Grant was elected to succeed him. While Grant was 
in office, an important war question was settled in regard to the 
"Alabama claims," whether or not England ought to pay for the 
damage that the Alabama and other privateers built in that 
country had done to American shipping. For less cause than 
this, nations have fought long and bloody wars, but both coun- 
tries agreed that the matter should be left to five men who 
would not favor either party. The men met at Geneva in Switzer- 
land. They decided that England should not have aUowed the 
boats to be built, and that she must pay to the United States 

fifteen and one half 



Travel in the joined together 
far West j^^^^^ Mountains 



one 
million dollars to make 
good the harm that 
they had done. 

The Atlantic cable 
had brought Europe 
nearer to America, but 
the Americans had felt 
for many years that 
eastern and western 
America ought to be 
Gold and silver had been found east of the 




THE CONFEDERATE CRUISEK ALABAMA 
(From Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies) 



Emigrants were going westward by thou- 
sands. There were railroads as far as the Missouri, but no regu- 
lar way of sending letters or goods from the Missouri to the " far 



THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 233 



West," now that this " far West " had moved from the Mississippi 
to the Pacific. The days of the postrider returned, and the " pony- 
express" was introduced. Each mail carrier rode seventy- five 
miles, finding a fresh horse awaiting him every twenty-five miles. 
Then another man took tlie mail and galloped away. The next The Union 
plan for carrying mail and passengers was by stage-coach ; but r m'^'^Lj 
while in Revolutionary days this would have been thought a 
luxurious way to travel, it was entirely too 
slow for the sons and grandsons of the 
Revolutionary heroes. A rail- 
road ought to be built across 
the continent, so the people 
said, and the Union Pacific 
Railroad was begun. There 
were mountain ranges to 
be climbed, vast expanses 
of prairie to be crossed, 
and rivers to be bridged. It took 
seven years to build the road, but 
at last the golden spike was driven that 
marked its completion. Every year the 
trains go a little faster, and to-day one can cross the continent in 
less time than it would have taken the New Yorker of a century 
earlier to go to Boston and return. 

The time soon came when it was natural to look back a century, 
for the hundredth anniversary of the days when the thirteen col- The 
onies were becoming a nation was at hand. In 1878 a tea-party Centennial 
was given in Philadelphia in memory of the Boston Tea-party of 
1773. Lowell wrote a poem about the fight at Concord bridge, 
and the men — 

" Who did great things, not knowing they were great." 

One event after another was commemorated in song or in cele- 




THE PONY EXPRESS" 



234 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Greenbacks 
become as 
good as 
gold 



bration; but the great celebration came in 1876, the hundredth 
birthday of the nation. The Declaration had been signed in 
Philadelphia, and there the Centennial Exposition was held. All 
the nations of the world were invited to come to the celebra- 
tion of the United States, and to bring specimens of what they 
could make or produce. One guest was the war-eagle, " Old Abe." 
The exhibition was most interesting, and it was a great help to 
our manufactures, for it gave us new ideas, and taught us new 
methods. The United States had no need to be ashamed of her 
own exhibit, for although she was the youngest nation repre- 
sented, her list of recent useful inventions was longer than that 
of any other country. 

In 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes became president. There was no 
important treaty while he was in office, there was no war and no 
discovery of gold, but a great event took place, for the treasurer 
of the United States announced that he was ready to exchange 
gold for "greenbacks.". Just as in the Revolution the colonies 

issued paper money, so 
in the Civil War, when 
the government needed 
money, it issued bills, 
called " greenbacks," be- 
cause the backs were 
printed with green ink. 
THK TKEAsruY BriLDiNG, wASHiNdToN Thesc biUswerc only 
the promise of the government to pay in gold or silver the amount 
named, and people knew that if the government should fall, they 
would never be paid. When the Union won a battle, the value 
of the greenbacks would rise, but if the Union lost, it would fall ; 
and at one time it cost nearly three dollars in greenbacks to buy 
one dollar in gold. The government needed so much money 
during the war that a clock ticking sixty times a minute would 




THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 235 



have to run for more than ninety years before it could tick off, 

once for every dollar, the money borrowed. After the war, the Paying foi 

the w3.r 
United States began straightway to pay the debt; the green- 
backs rose in value, and when finahy the Secretary of the Trea- 
sury offered to give gold in exchange for greenbacks, people did 
not care to accept the offer, because the promise of the United 
States had become literally "as good as gold." 

In 1881 James A. Garfield was elected president. A few 
months later he was shot, and Chester A. Arthur, the Vice- 
President, became president. This murder was 
partly due to a mistake made fifty years be- 
fore by honest, faithful Andrew Jackson. The 
kind-hearted old warrior could not bear to re- 
fuse a friend who asked for a position, and to 
make room for these friends he turned out 
large numbers of those who were in office. 
This act grew mto a custom. Every man 
who had tried to help elect the successful 
candidate thought he ought to have the re- 
ward of a government position. Hayes did 
not believe in this custom, and Garfield did 
not. Men who had voted for Garfield expected the usual reward, 
and were angry when it was not given them. It was one of these 
disappointed seekers after office who shot President Garfield. 

This crime aroused Congress, and a law was made requiring 
many offices to be filled only by men who had successfully passed Civil Service 
an examination. Another law, which applied to many thousand 
subordinate positions, provided that men who were working for 
the government well and faithfully should not lose their places 
when the party that appointed them went out of power. These 
laws were a long step in the direction of justice and fairness. 
They were passed while President Arthur was in power, so that 




JAMES A. GARFIELD 
(Died September 19, 1881) 



Reform 



236 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Ms term of office was marked by the beginning of what is called 
Civil Service Reform. 

It was at this time that two expositions somewhat like the 
Centennial were held in the South, and the whole country was 
glad to see the prosperity of the southern states. The South 
had feared that the negroes would not work if they were 
free, but now it was proved that far more cotton was raised 
in proportion to the number of the negroes than before 
the war. More tobacco and sugar were also raised and 
much more corn and wheat. Manufacturing was now 
carried on in the South. The southerners were also look- 
ing below the surface of the ground as they had never 
done before; and, behold, there were great beds of coal 
and of iron. Cotton seed used to be thrown away, but 
now every state that raises cotton receives a large income from 
the sale of the oil that is pressed out of the seed. 

It was in Arthur's time that a great change was made in a 
small thing. A law was passed that instead of asking three 
cents for a letter stamp, the government should charge but 
SUGAR-CANE two. This law applies to all land owned by the United 
Two-cent States, and that is why we can send a letter to the PhiUppines 
for two cents, while it costs five cents to send one to Europe. 

After Garfield was shot and all knew that there was little 
hope of his recovery, the Vice-President also became seriously ill. 
There was nothing in our Constitution to decide who should 
become president if both died ; but under Grover Cleveland, the 
next President, a law was made that if both the President and 
Vice-President should die, the Secretary of State should rule, and 
if he died, the Secretary of the Treasury should take his place, 
and so on through the cabinet. As the cabinet is made up of 
men chosen by the President, they would be likely to carry out 
his ideas and the wishes of the people who had elected him. 




postage 



Succession 
to the presi- 
dency 



THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 237 

While Cleveland was in office the Chinese were forbidden to 
enter the United States. Our country is so large that for many The Chinese 
years it did not occur to Americans to shut out any one who ^^^ ^ 
wished to come in, but after a while it was found that some of 
the European states were sending paupers across the ocean, be- 
cause it was cheaper to pay their fare than to support them at 
home. This was forbidden, and the government began to look a 
little more closely at the kinds of people who were landing on 
our shores. It was found that the Chinese differed from other 
immigrants in two respects. One was that they were willing to 
work for very small wages ; and the workingmen of the Pacific 
coast said, " There are so many Chinese, and they work so cheap, 
that employers are refusing to pay us the wages that we have 
been receiving." Tlie other difference was that while most men 
from other nations would stay in the United States and become 
citizens, the Cliinese would stay only until they had made a cer- 
tain amount of money and would then go home, carrying their 
money with them. A law was passed forbidding the Chinese to 
come into the land. Many persons thought that this law ought 
not to be made, because we had a treaty with China allowing the 
Chinese the same rights as other nations, but the Supreme Court 
decided that Congress had a right to say who should be allowed 
to enter the land. 

France had not forgotten her old friendship of a century 
earlier, and in token of this and of her respect for the United The statue 
States, she presented the country with a colossal statue of Lib- °^ liberty 
erty. It stands on an island in New York harbor. It is so large 
that a room in the head of the figure will hold forty persons. In 
one hand is a torch which may be lighted by electricity. 

Cleveland's term of office expired in 1889, and he was suc- 
ceeded by Benjamin Harrison, the third man by the name of 
Harrison who has been famous in our country's history. One 



238 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The McKin- 
ley tariff 



STATUE OF LIBERTY 
(Designed by Bartholdi and pre- 
sented by France to tlie United 
States. It was completed in 
1886) 

Indian 
troubles 



signed the Declaration of Independence; his son, nicknamed 
"Tippecanoe," was elected president in 1841; and in 1889 the 
grandson of "Tippecanoe" became president. In 1841 there was 
much discussion about the tariff. One party said, "The duty 
on imported goods ought to be just high enough to pay the 
expenses of the government, and then prices will be low." The 
other said, "If imported goods are too cheap, our manu- 
facturers will either go out of business or else they will 
pay our workmen no higher wages than the workmen in 
Europe receive." When Benjamin Harrison became presi- 
dent, people were discussing this same question. William 
McKinley, of Ohio, proposed in Congress a bill whose 
aim was to impose a high duty upon imported goods that 
could be manufactured in this country. This bill became 
a law. 

The right was also given to the President to change 

the duty on certain articles, if the country sending those 

articles should impose unfair duties upon our products. 

This principle was called reciprocity, and by this means 

we could be sure of fair treatment, for we had become 

so large and so rich a nation that other nations were 

eager to win the privilege of sellmg their goods in this 

country. 

Millions of people from Europe had come to make 
their homes in America. Instead of thirteen httle 
colonies clinging to the Atlantic coast, our nation 
spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and great 
cities had sprung into life where half a century earlier there had 
been only a wilderness. In the movement of population to the 
westward there had sometimes been trouble with the Indians. 
They were here first, but most people have come to feel that 
roaming over a land does not give a claim to it, and that civihzed 




THE LATTER YEARS OF THE CENTURY 239 



nations have a right to take possession of " wild land." The 
Indians were gathered into tracts called reservations, in places 
where it was thought no white men would wish to live; and 
then as these tracts became valuable, the Indians were moved, 
not once, but many times. It is no wonder that they tried to 
resist, and that there were bloody massacres. 

In the year that Benjamin Harrison became president, the In- 
dians were moved from Oklahoma, and one April day there was The opening 
a strange scene acted on the border of the new territory. Thou- °^ O'^^^homa 
sands of men had gathered together from all parts of the country. 
Just at noon a bugle sounded ; men ran, horses galloped, wagons 
swayed wildly to and fro. Everybody was frantically struggling 
to get possession of a 
bit of land, for the gov- 
ernment had agreed 
that whoever was first 
on a lot might have it 
for his own on pay- 
ment of a small sum, 
much less than the 
land was worth. This 
was so unfair a way 
to grant property that 
when the time came 
to open another terri- arapahoe camp, indian tkkritoky 

tory to settlers, the plan was tried of allowing them to draw lots 
for the pieces of land. 

After Harrison's term of office was over, Cleveland was again 
elected. In his first term he had done all that he could to help Civil Service 
on Civil Service Reform, and during this second term he sue- ^^^o^"' 
ceeded in putting many more offices under the merit system. 

Before Cleveland's second election there was much discussion 




240 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Colum- about the best way to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary 
Son ^''P^^'' of the landing of Columbus. In 1876 the Centennial had cele- 
brated the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of 
Independence, and it was now decided to hold an exposition in 
Chicago. The buildings of the exposition were exceedingly beau- 
tiful. So many of them were white that they were knovYu as 

the " White City." 
In Chicago there 
were more than 
a million inhabi- 
tants, but many a 
man went to the 
Columbian Expo- 
sition, as it was 
called, who could 
remember when 
the city consisted 
of a fort and a few 
little hilts. The 
celebration should 
have been held just 
four hundred years after the coming of Columbus, but the plan 
was not made early enough, and the doors could not be opened 
until 1893. 

SUMMARY. 

An amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery, and the negroes were 
enfranchised. After some delay, representative government was com- 
pletely restored to the South. 

Before 1876, the first Atlantic cable was laid ; Alaska was purchased ; 
England paid for the damage done by the Alabama, the dispute being 
settled by arbitration ; and the Union Pacific Railroad was built. 

Between the Centennial and the Columbian Exposition, our " green-backs " 







y I 




^jj 


X' ' LiBiisllfll 




1 


1 


S '' 


m 


^^^ 




^ <^l«tAH 


9lnliH 




hI 


oi 


■ 



THE PERISTYLE AND FRENCH'S STATUE OF LIBERTY 
AT THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 241 

became as good as gold ; Civil Service Keform was carried out ; Chinese 
laborers were excluded ; a tariff for protection as well as revenue was 
imposed ; and much land in the West was thrown open to settlers. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK. 

One of the unsuccessful men describes the opening of Oklahoma. 
Why should the landing of Columbus be celebrated? 



XXIII. 
THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 

The next president was William McKinley, the Ohio congress- 
man whose plans for the tariff had been adopted seven years before. A hopeful 
Forty-five states had been admitted to the Union, business was 
flourishing, the crops were large, and throughout the country there 
seemed to be good reason to expect a peaceful, prosperous time. 

One hundred miles off our coast, however, there was trouble, and 
it was soon plain that this trouble would affect the United States. 
Cuba belonged to Spain, and the island had been ruled so harshly 
that the Cubans had tried many times to free themselves from 
Spanish control. Soon after McKinley became president, they tried 
again and fought more desperately than ever. Spain could not 
suppress the revolt, and her commanders treated the Cubans so 
savagely that the United States believed it was time to interfere. 
Another reason for interference was that the Cubans and their 
friends were trying to fit out vessels in the United States to 
carry arms and supplies to the island. The only way to prevent 
this was for our government to keep ships sailing up and down 
our long coast, and the expense of such patrolling was very 
great. A third reason was that many Americans owned prop- 
erty on the island, and this war was breaking up their business 



242 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



The Span- 
ish fleet in 
the East 
destroyed 




Copyright, 18D9, by J. C. Hemmont 

THE MAINE ENTERING HAVANA HARBOR 
(Morro Castle appears on the right) 



and causing them much loss. To protect them if need should 

come, the United States battleship Maine was anchored in the 

harbor of Havana. 
It was blown up. 
There was suspi- 
cion that Span- 
iards had caused 
the disaster. Spain 
had shown herself 
unfit to rule over 
Cuba, and war was 
declared. 

Spain was sup- 
posed to have a formidable navy, but if this could be destroyed, 

she would be powerless. One of 

her fleets was in the Pacific, in the 

harbor of Manila, the chief city of 

her Philippine colonies. Commo- 
dore Dewey was off the coast of 

China in command of an American 

fleet of six warships. The order 

came to him, "Capture [Spanish] 

vessels or destroy." Mines that 

would explode at a touch were 

scattered about Manila harbor, but 

Dewey steamed in one night, and 

destroyed ten Spanish warships and 

one* transport without losing a 

man. The power of Spain in the 

Pacific vanished in a day. 

Spain then sent a fleet across the the Philippine islands 

Atlantic. The United States vessels kept close watch, and it was 




THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 243 










learned that the Spaniards had gone into Santiago de Cuba for Fighting at 
coaL An American fleet guarded the mouth of the harbor where cuba^^° 
the Spanish ships were " bottled up," and American soldiers were 

sent to capture the town. 
There were white troops and 
negro troops. There were 
men who had fought for the 
Union, and there were men 
who had fought against the 
Union. One interesting regi- The Rough 
ment commanded by Colonel ^*"^®'"^ 
Leonard Wood had been raised 
THs WEST INDIES by Lieutcnant-colonel Theo- 

dore Roosevelt. He had graduated at Harvard, had lived on a 
western ranch and in New York city. He was an enthusiastic 
student and had written many books. He had also tamed vicious 
broncos, pursued thieves, been at the head of the New York 
police commission, and was, at the begiu- 
ning of the war, Assistant Secretary of 
the Navy. His regiment was made up of 
* cowboys" from the West, policemen, 
millionaires, men who had fought more 
than one wild battle with the Indians, 
and men who knew far more about danc- 
ing than fighting. In one respect they 
were all ahke, for every one of them was 
a brave man, and was ready to follow 
** Teddy," as they nicknamed their leader, 
into danger or death. Some one called 
them the " Rough Riders," and they were 

rarely spoken of by any other title. All ^ rough rider 

these men were in Cuba. An attack was (From a photograph of captain Kane) 




244 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Victory at 
Santiago 



Terms of 
peace 




Copyright, 1893, by J. C. HemmeLt 

WRECK OF THE SPANISH FLAGSHIP REINA MERCEDES 
(Morro Castle, Santiago, is seen in the background) 



made upon Santiago, and the Spaniards saw that it must sur- 
render. Orders were sent for the Spanish fleet to sail out of "the 
bottle " and attack 
the American ves- 
sels. This was 
done, but the fleet 
was completely de- 
stroyed. The rest 
of the Spanish 
navy had to stay 
at home to defend 
the coast, and soon 
Spain asked for 
peace. 

She agreed to give freedom to Cuba and to surrender Porto 
Rico to the United States as well as Guam, a small island in the 
Ladrones. The Philippines she was to sell to the United States 
for twenty million dollars. The treaty was 
signed in December, 1898, and Spain no longer 
owned a foot of land in the western hemi- 
sphere. What were supposed to be the 
remains of Christopher Columbus were re- 
moved to Spain from the cathedral of Ha- 
vana. While the war was going on, the 
Hawaiian Islands asked to be annexed to 
the United States, and the request was 
granted. 

The war with Spain soon ended, but the 
natives of the Philippines for a time resisted 
our rule. A degree of self-government was early granted the 
Filipinos. In 1900 we had trouble with China. A Chinese society 
called the " Boxers," feeling sure that the empress of China shared 




WILUAM MCKINLEY 
(Died September 14, 1901) 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 245 




The assassi- 
nation of 
McKinley 



their hatred of all foreigners, set out to massacre them. An army- 
was formed of English, Americans, Japanese, and others to rescue 
their missionaries and protect their citizens and business inter- 
ests. Two of the principal cities in China, Pekin and Tientsin, 
were captured, and the Chinese yielded. 

In 1901 McKinley was again elected. Six months later, the 
message was telegraphed over the 
world for the third time within 
forty years, "Our President has 
been assassinated." A great wave 
of sorrow swept over the land. 
The hatred aroused by civil war 
had caused the death of Lincoln; 
the " spoils system " had taken the 
Ufe of Garfield; McKinley, how- 
ever, fell by the hand of an an- 
archist, one who declares that no 
country should have a government, 
but that every man should do as 
he chooses. The sympathy of the whole world was with the 
United States. Only a few months earlier, America had shared 
the grief of Great Britain at the death of Queen Victoria, and 
now England shared our sorrow. Her flags were put at half- 
mast, badges of mourning were worn, and memorial services were 
held, not only in the great English cathedrals, but even in the 
little country churches. 

A few hours after the death of "William McKinley, the Vice- Theodore 
President, Theodore Roosevelt, repeated gravely the presidential Roosevelt 
oath : — president 

*' I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States ; and will, to the best of my ability, 
preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United 
States." 



-z^- 



THEODORE ROOSEVELT 



246 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Increased 
influence 
abroad 



Industrial 
prosperity 



Investiga- 
tion of great 
corporations 



In 1905 President Roosevelt was elected. A few months later 
he succeeded in persuading Japan and Russia to end the fierce 
warfare that had been raging between them and to agree upon 
terms of peace. Their commissioners met at Portsmouth, New 
Hampshire, and in August a treaty was signed. Cuba had been 
made free, but her government was not strong enough to main- 
tain order, and she now appealed to our country for help. In the 
autumn of 1906 the United States took temporary control of the 
island and appointed a governor. At about the same time our 
Secretary of State paid friendly visits to the South American 
republics. 

Since the Spanish war all sorts of manufactures have pros- 
pered. Prices have been high, work plenty, and wages in most 
kinds of employment have risen. Enormous fortunes have been 
made, and people have come to feel that they are not comfortable 
unless they have more luxuries than ever before. When a coun- 
try is growing and changing as rapidly as the United States, 
new questions are constantly arising, and the greatest wisdom is 
needed to settle them in such a way that all will be treated with 
fairness. One of the most difficult problems of the present day 
is how to divide the profits of any undertaking between capital 
and labor. The capitalist furnishes the money for buildings, ma- 
chinery, and materials, and also the brain for managing, advertis- 
ing, and enlarging the business ; the wage-earner furnishes the 
hands for the actual work. Neither party can succeed without 
the other ; but what share of the gain each ought to receive is no 
easy matter to decide. There is a general belief that a tremendous 
fortune cannot be made unless the rights of the people have been 
violated in some way. One of the most important acts of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's administration was the inquiry by the Govern- 
ment into the methods by which some of the great corporations 
have become so wealthy. One charge was, for instance, that rail- 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 247 

roads had given the large producers lower rates than the small 
producers, and thus had prevented a fair competition. The meth- 
ods by which some of the large insurance companies were managing 
the vast sums of money intrusted to them have been investigated. 
The influence of the United States as a world power has become 
much more apparent during the last few years. The relations of 
this country to others were guided by John Hay, Secretary of John Hay 
State, until his death in 1905. He established the principle that 
dealings between nations should be as frank and honorable as 
those between individuals. The years since 1905 have been marked 
by progress. The Panama Canal has been completed. The rates or 
railroads have been regulated. Pure food laws have decreed that 
food products shall be inspected, shall be of the weight or quan- 
tity marked, and shall be clean, pure, and free from injurious 
preservatives. Laws limiting the liours of labor of children and 
forbidding the employment of young children in the various indus- 
tries have been passed. In 1907 a new state was admitted, formed 
by the union of Oklahoma and Indian Territories. §> 10,000,000 of 
the indemnity due from China on account of the Boxer Rebellion 
has been canceled; and in graceful return for the kindness China 
is spending the money in educating young Chinese in this country. 
Wide interest has been felt in the navigation of the air ; and in 
this science American invention takes rank. The North Pole has 
been discovered by Commander Robert E. Peary, U.S.N. 

To succeed President Roosevelt, William H. Taft was elected Taft elected 
President of the United States. He was inaugurated in March, 1909. President 

Early in 1912 Arizona and New Mexico were admitted. This 
leaves none of the " contiguous territory " of the United States 
under territorial government. Postal savings banks have been 
opened ; but an even more important act was the establishing, in Parcel post 
January, 1913, of the long desired parcel post. Employers' lia- ^^ ^ ^^ ^ 
bility laws have been passed in the effort to make a just division 



248 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Arbitration 
treaties 



Wilson 
inaugurated 



of the loss in case of injury to an employee. Proceedings have 
been entered upon against trusts alleged to be in restraint of trade ; 
here the problem is to permit the large capital necessary to the 
carrying on of large enterprises, and at the same time to control it 
in such manner that there shall be no interference with free com- 
petition. With a view to the conservation of our resources, many 
thousand square miles of water-power sites, and land containing 
phosphates, petroleum, and coal have been withdrawn by the gov- 
ernment from individual ownership. The organization known as 
the Boy Scouts has been formed, which aims at developing ability to 
meet emergencies and a spirit of kindness to persons and animals. 

In August, 1911, treaties of general arbitration with both Great 
Britain and France were signed ; and in March, 1912, they were 
ratified by the Senate. These provide that international contro- 
versies which the two nations have not been able to adjust by 
diplomacy, shall be submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitra- 
tion at The Hague, or to some other arbitral tribunal. 

Jn March, 1913, Woodrow Wilson, formerly at the head of 
Princeton University, and at the time of his nomination Governor 
of New Jersey, was inaugurated President of the United States. 

A large portion of the income of the Government had been de- 
rived from the tariff, a tax on imported goods. A bill was now 
passed which greatly reduced this tariff ; and to make up the de- 
ficiency in revenue an income tax was decreed. And in 1914, 
because fewer foreign goods came to our ports on account of the 
great war that had broken out in Europe, it was found necessary 
to impose a " war tax " besides, to help supply the revenue we were 
losing. 

Early in President Wilson's administration, a currency bill was 
passed. This meant a revision of our banking system. All na- 
tional banks and certain state banks — that is, all banks in which 
government funds are deposited and that have the right to issue 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 249 

bank notes — were brought under the direct supervision of a Fed- 
eral Reserve Board, as it was called, at Washington ; and this board 
was empowered further to establish a certain number of Federal 
banks, each in a different region of the country. The system was 
planned to make it possible to issue currency whenever the re- 
quirements of business demanded, and to withdraw it when the 
need had passed — a provision that would greatly aid the agricul- 
tural sections ; for, in harvest season, when huge crops must be 
moved and stored, the banks are called upon to put a great deal 
of money into circulation, that farmers and railroads may meet 
these enormous expenses. Also, it was hoped that, under the wise 
control of the Federal Reserve Board, financial panics might always 
be prevented. 

An especially difficult question was our relations with Mexico. 
In 1911 the Government of Mexico was overthrown and soon fell 
into the hands of one Huerta. The United States refused to recog- 
nize him as a lawful ruler. American citizens in Mexico were 
slain ; American business interests suffered enormously ; and our 
own Southern border was kept in a state of turmoil, requiring 
mihtary patrol. At length, Huerta's refusal to salute the United 
States flag by way of apology for the arrest of an American sailor 
brought about the taking of Vera Cruz by the United States Navy 
and its occupation by the Army. Aside from this capture. Presi- 
dent Wilson followed a policy of " watchful waiting," with a view 
to avoiding armed intervention. He invited Argentina, Brazil, and 
Chile — the "A. B. C. countries " — to send representatives to dis- 
cuss with us plans for the permanent welfare of Mexico. The 
conference was held at Niagara Falls. Huerta finally withdrew to 
Europe. General Carranza, leader of the Constitutionalist party, 
was made Provisional President, pending a general and lawful 
election; and the United States troops were withdrawn from Vera 
Cruz. Carranza's government was opposed by Villa and others. 



250 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

Lawlessness prevailed, and in spite of the appeals of President 
Wilson, Americans were murdered, not only in Mexico, but also 
on the American side of the line. Punitive expeditions were sent 
in pursuit of the invaders, and finally militia were called out to 
defend the border. Early in 1917, the American troops were 
withdrawn from Mexico, and the rule of Carranza was formally 
recognized by the United States. In March, 1917, the United 
States bought of Denmark her fifty West Indian islands for 
$25,000,000. From a military and strategic point of view, even 
this large price was not beyond their value. By wish of the 
islanders, the ancient name of Virgin Islands was restored. 

The war which had broken out in Europe in the summer of 
1914 continued to rage, becoming tlie greatest and most terrible 
in the history of the world. Germany, after declaring war on 
France and Russia, sought to reach Paris by marching through 
Belgium, a neutral country. Belgium resisted, and England came 
to her aid. As time passed, nearly all the other countries of 
Europe became involved. The ruthless methods of the German 
submarines in sinking the vessels of neutral nations without 
warning put an end to the freedom of the seas and destroyed 
many American lives. President Wilson had been reelected and 
in March, 1917, had entered upon his second term. Early in 
April he advised that Congress formally accept the state of war 
thrust upon us by Germany and fight "for the right of those 
who submit to authority to have a voice in their own govern- 
ments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a uni- 
versal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as 
shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world 
itself at last free." By an overwhelming vote war against Ger- 
many was declared, A law for a " selective draft " was passed, 
calling to service healthy men upon whom no one was dependent, 
and before the summer of 1918 had come to an end, some 3,300,000 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 251 

American boys were under arms, half of them in France and the 
other half in cantonments, where they were trained for service. 

Besides this draft, another draft was quietly going on, a calling 
of hundreds of thousands of men and women for whatever work 
they could do best. Chemists were asked to use their knowledge 
for the Government; artists made war posters and camouflage; 
authors laid aside their other work and prepared whatever books 
and pamphlets were required ; men and women who were good 
public speakers made four-minute addresses in the interludes of 
the " movies." Many of our best actors, singers, doctors, and den- 
tists gave their time generously to make life pleasanter or healthier 
for the boys in khaki. Enormous amounts of money were raised 
by "Liberty Loans." The Red Cross, the Y.M.C.A., the Salvation 
Army, and other organizations did their best to help wherever 
they were needed. The Food Administration was formed, whose 
business was to find out what foods were needed for ourselves and 
the Allies and to divide them fairly between us, to show us how we 
could produce more food, and how we could avoid wastefulness. 
In this struggle, every one was enlisted. The boys and girls of the 
Garden Cities and the School Garden Armies raised millions of 
dollars' worth of food stuffs. 

In the spring of 1918, the Germans made a last furious "drive" 
but were defeated. The Allies pushed on nearer and nearer to the 
German boundaries. On all sides the German power was crumb- 
Ung, and on November 11 an armistice was declared which was 
virtually a German surrender. 

Early in 1919 representatives of the Allied countries met in 
Paris to make a Treaty of Peace and to form a League of Nations 
for the prevention of future war. This Treaty was presented to 
the Senate of the United States with the League as a "rider," 
that is, both must be accepted or declined together. The Senate, 
fearing European entanglements and possible infringements upon 



252 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

American independence, refused to accept the Covenant of the 
League without several reservations. President Wilson vetoed 
these reservations and also a bill declaring the war at an end. 
In the summer of 1921, however, another bill was enacted by 
Congress and signed by President Harding, whereby the war was 
ended. 

Within two years, two important amendments to the Constitu- 
tion of the United States have been declared in force: — one, 
estabUshing prohibition ; the other, suffrage for women. 

As a result of the November elections, Warren G. Harding, 
Senator from Ohio, was elected President, and Calvm Coolidge, 
Governor of Massachusetts, Vice-President. 

Early in 1921 President Harding invited representatives of the 
Allied Powers to join in a conference in Washington, with a view 
to the reduction of naval armaments. When the delegates were 
assembled, instead of the formal speeches customary on such 
occasions, Mr. Hughes, Secretary of State, who represented the 
President, read quietly a paper proposing that Great Britain, 
Japan, and the United States should stop at once their rival build- 
ing of capital ships and should even destroy those already built 
beyond a certain number for each country, sufficient for defence, 
but not for attack. The three countries and also France and Italy 
agreed to this proposal. 

Most wars end with a group of men sitting around a table to 
settle the disagreements that caused the conflict. Mr. Hughes's 
plan was to settle the possible causes of war first, and so prevent 
any conflict. The chief possible cause of war in the Pacific was 
China, a big, weak, unprotected, poorly governed land. Several 
countries were eager to win special privileges of trade in China, 
and Japan was in pressing need of more land for her millions of 
citizens. Not only Japan, Great Britain, and the United States, 
but also France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal 



THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER 253 

agreed to respect the independence of China and to help to estab- 
lish and maintain the "open door," that is, equal opportunity of 
trade with China for all nations. 

So it was that the Washington Conference did its best to free 
the world from the curse of warfare. This conference had no 
machinery, no laws or by-laws. It was merely a group of repre- 
sentative men speaking for their respective countries and trying 
to make the world a better place to live in. The results remain 
to be seen ; but nothing is too great or too good to come from 
efforts founded upon " Simplicity, Honesty, and Honor." 

SUMMARY 

The war with Spain resulted in the independence of Cuba and in our be- 
coming more clearly a world power. We acquired Porto Rico, Guam, 
and the Philippines. During the war, the Hawaiian Islands became, 
at their own request, part of the territory of the United States. 

Manufactures have prospered. The methods of the great corporations have 
been investigated. The tariff on imports has been reduced. A cur- 
rency bill has revised the banking system. 

The Panama Canal has been constructed and opened to the commerce of 
the world. 

The rule of Carranza in Mexico was recognized by the United States. 

The state of war thrust upon us by Germany was formally accepted. 

The Virgin Islands were bought of Denmark. 

After four years of warfare, an armistice, which was really a surrender of 
Germany, was declared. 

The Senate refused to accept the Peace League without reservations. 

Amendments to the Constitution in favor of prohibition and of woman suf- 
frage were adopted. 

Warren G. Harding was elected President, and Calvin Coolidge, Vice- 
President. 

The Washington Conference agreed to a reduction of naval armaments. 



/ 



254 



OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 



Epochs in 
American 
history 



Exploration 



XXIV 
OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY 

The United States is one of the youngest nations of the world 
Civilized men first went to England nearly twenty centuries ago, 
but since Columbus discovered America only four centuries have 
passed. Each of these four centuries has a character of its own 
and is quite unlike the others. The first was the time of explor- 
ing, the second of colonizing, the third of deciding who should 
rule in America, and the fourth of growth and development. 

During the first century explorers from France, England, and 
Spain visited the New World, each claiming for his own country 
the part that he explored. Each hoped to find gold, but only the 
Spaniards, who went to Mexico and Peru, were successful. There 
was little thought of making settlements, and at the end of the 
first century the Spanish colonies of St. Augustine and Santa 
Fe were the only ones on what is now the territory of the United 
States on the mainland. 

During the second century much colonizing was done. The 
Colonization French settled chiefiy. along the Saint Lawrence River; the Eng- 
Ush settled along the Atlantic coast of North America ; the Span- 
ish in Mexico and South America; the Dutch by the Hudson 
River ; the Swedes by the Delaware. The European nations dis- 
covered that it was worth while to have American colonies. 

During the third century there was a long struggle to see 
which nation should rule in America. EnglaJid and France were 
far ahead of the others, but which of them should it be ? The 
French and Indians Wars gave the answer, " England." Then 



Struggle for 
control 



OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY 



255 




.4 A- C JS' I U Ji<-' £ A N 








U N I T^ D rN.„Tork 

Ban Francisco • ^. J 



CHINA 

Pekjn«s c, /._ Han KrancSsco » _" i. _ ' 

PACIFIC \f^.^^l^/ 

'''-^ -v.-.;'/\>. OCEAN 




HAWAIIAN 
' ISLANDS 




THE UNITED STATES AND ITS POSSESSIONS 
(Shown by shading and names in heavy type) 

another question arose, Should it be England or the thirteen 
colonies? The Revolutionary AVar answered, "The colonies." 
At the end of the tliird century the United States had been estab- 
lished and the land east of the Mississippi was under her rule. 

During the fourth century our country grew and developed. 
Between 1800 and 1853 we acquired Florida and the land west Territorial 
from the Mississippi to the Pacific. Since 1853 our only acquisi- ^^'^ 
tions in territory have been Alaska and our island possessions. 

There has been a gain in the United States during the last 
hundred years in people as well as in land. There were so few Population 
inhabitants in the colonies at the time of the Revolution that 
during the early part of the war European nations thought it 
impossible for them to win their freedom. To-day there are 
twenty times as many. They would be badly crowded if they 
had to live within the Umits of the original colonies, and they 
have spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and even upon the 
islands of the Pacific. 



256 OUR COUNTRY'S STORY 

How has it come about that the number of people in the United 
Emigration states has increased with such rapidity?- It is partly because 
more have been born than have died and partly because so many 
have come from foreign countries. Fifty years ago large -villages 
were common in which there were hardly any foreigners. Now 
one sixth of the whole number of inhabitants of the United States 
are people who were born in some other country, most of them 
in some European state. 
These people are glad to come because the workingmen of 
Education ol America receive higher wages than those of any other country, 
and because in America a man is free to rise to any position that 
he is fitted to hold. The country is ready to give the education 
that will prepare her citizens to rise to high positions. It is 
beheved that an educated man is Ukely to make a better citizen 
than an ignorant man, and therefore the public schools of the 
United States are entirely free. More than that, many states 
have passed such laws that it is almost impossible for a child to 
grow up in ignorance. Then, too, there are public hbraries not 
only in the cities but in many of the Uttle villages, so that men 
who are too old to go to school may educate themselves by reading. 
There is opportunity to use all kinds of knowledge in carrying 
Great oppo^ on the manufactures of the country. Almost everytliing that 
used to be made by hand is now made by machinery, and the 
skill to invent a machine that will work a Uttle better than the 
one in use is always well rewarded. Knowledge is also needed to 
develop the mineral wealth of the country. Within the limits of 
the United States are metals, coal, natural gas, and petroleum, 
and it is the skill and inventive genius of her citizens that have 
brought such great wealth to the country from these products. 
This inventive genius has also given us rapid and cheap trans- 
Rapid trans portation. In the old days a man had to make or raise most 
portarion things for himself. Manufactured articles that could be made 



OUR COUNTRY TO-DAY 257 

very cheaply in one place became exceedingly dear when they 
had to be carried long distances by wagon, and few of the 
food-stuffs could bear such long, slow journeys. Now fruit can 
easily be sent from California to Maine. Furniture can be made 
where wood is cheap and plenty, and sent to all parts of the coun- 
try at a small expense. The cheap and rapid transportation of 
people is a great convenience. Business men do not need to 
live in cities near their oflBces or manufactories, for the steam or 
electric cars will carry them six or eight miles in the time that 
it would take to walk one mile. Mail matter, too, is transported 
with the greatest rapidity and certainty. Letters used to come 
"every once in a wMle." Now we are surprised and indignant 
at an hour's delay in the arrival of the mail. 

This rapidity of communication and transportation makes it 
possible to carry on trade with the most distant parts of the Foreign 
world. When we find the mail too slow, we use telephone, tele- 
graph, or " wireless " ; a message can now be sent in a few minutes 
whose delivery a century ago would have required many weeks. 
It is from this commerce that much of our country's wealth has 
arisen. The amount of it is greater than figures will make clear 
to us. We cannot have any definite idea of what one milhon is, 
and one billion really means nothing to us, but $13,350,000,000 
represents the value of our trade with other parts of the world 
during the year 1920. 

What the United States shall become to-morrow will lie in the 
hands of those who are the children of to-day. Abraham Lincoln The outlook 
said at Gettysburg, " We here highly resolve that government of 
the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from 
the earth." If every citizen cares for his own gain alone, the 
country will become weak ; but if every one cares for the gain of 
all, it will become strong, and the world will be the better because 
of the power and the greatness of the United States of America 



11 



INDEX 



AND PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 



Kbt to PaoNTJNCiATiON. — Marked vowels are prououuced like the same vowels similarly marked 
(n the following words : fate, fat, father, fall, cSre ; theme, y§t, hgr ; pine, pin ; bone, not, 6rb ; moon, 
foot ; tune, bfit, bflrr. The obscure vowels are pronounced like a in Durham, e in Jerusalem, 6 in 
Burton, and occur only in unaccented syllables, g is like g in go. 



Abraham, Plains of, 127. 

Acadia (a-ka'di-a), position of, 119 map; 
attack on, 125. 

Acadians (a-ka'di-anz), exile of, 125 ; pic- 
ture, 125. 

Adams, John, defends soldiers of Boston 
massacre, 137 ; in first and second Con- 
tinental Congresses, 140, 143 ; portrait 
of, 144 ; becomes president, 173 ; his 
death, 188. 

Adams, John Qnincy, presidency, 188-192. 

Adams, Samuel, father of the Revolution, 
137 ; a delegate to the first Continental 
Congress, 140 ; attempt to seize him at 
Lexington, 141 ; in the second Conti- 
nental Congress, 143 ; portrait of, 144 ; 
opposes a final appeal to the king, 14<). 

Alabama (al-a-ba'ma), the cruiser, 218 , 
claims against England on her account, 
232 ; picture of, 232. 

Alaska (a-las'ka), bought from Russia, 
231. 

Albany (al'ban-i), situation of, reached by 
Hudson, 89 ; fort built at, 90 ; location, 
91 map ; 119 map. 

Albemarle (al'be-marl), location, 109 map; 
Carolina first settled at, 109. 

Alleghany (al'e-ga-ni), valley of, occupied 
by the French, 123. 

Allen, Ethan (e'than), captures Ticonder- 
oga, 143 ; statue of, picture, 143. 

America, Norse and Swedish voyages to, 
2 : Columbus reaches, 9, 10 ; who named 



for, 15 ; Hakluyt's reasons for planting 
colonies in, 27 ; growing interest in, 33 ; 
question of who shall rule in, 119-129; 
life in, before the Revolution, 129-132. 

Anderson, Major, at Fort Sumter, 208, 
.209 ; sent back to the fort, 227. 

Andr^ (an'dra), Major, hanged as a spy, 
165, 1()6 ; portrait, 106. 

Annapolis (an-nap'6-lis), Md., location, 102 
map ; founded, 106. 

Antietam{an-te'tam), Lee repulsed at, 217. 

Anti-slavery movement, 195. 

Appomattox (ap-po-mat'toks) Court 
House, location, 216 map ; Lee's surren- 
der at, 226, 227 : picture of, 226. 

Arapahoe (a-rap'a-ho) camp, Indian Ter- 
ritory, picture, 239. 

Arbitration, of Alabama claims, 232 ; be- 
tween Japan and Russia, 246 ; treaties, 
248; for Mexico, 249, 250. 

Armada (ar-ma'da), Spanish, defeated, 
30. 

Army canteen, picture, 228. 

Arnold (ar'nold), Benedict (ben'e-dict), 
comes to Boston, 142; starts to capture 
Ticonderoga, 1 43 ; leads an attack on 
Quebec, 147 ; relieves Fort Stanwix, 
159 ; gets command of West Point, 165 ; 
his treason, 165, 166. 

Arthur, Chester A., president, 235, 236. 

Asia (a'shia), trade with, in the fifteenth 
century, 2; caravan travel in, 3; trade 
with, stopped by the Turks, 3. 



11 



INDEX 



Atlanta (at-lan'ta), captured by Sherman, 
224 ; location, 224 inap. 

Atlantic (at-lan'tik) cable, Great Eastern, 
laying the, picture, 230 ; put in opera- 
tion, 231. 

Atlantic Ocean, early fear of, 12 ; Colum- 
bus plans to cross, 3. 

Authors, first really great American, 194. 

Bacon (bacon), Nathaniel, rebellion in 

Virginia, led by, 51. 
Baltimore (bal'ti-mor), first Lord, founds 

Maryland for the Catholics, 105 ; dies, 

106. 
Baltimore, second Lord, portrait of, 105 ; 

begins the settlement of Maryland, 106 ; 

deprived of his colony and reinstated, 

108. 
Baltimore, Md., attack on, during the war 

of 1812, 181. 
Baltimore sixpence, picture, UXJ. 
Barbary (bar'ba-ri) pirate vessel, picture, 

174. 
Barbary States, war with, 174 ; cannon 

captured from, picture, 175. 
Beauregard (bo-ri-gard). General, attacks 

Fort Sumter, 208 ; commands at Bull 

Run, 211. 
Beaver, picture of, 71. 
Bennington (ben'ing-ton), Vt., battle of, 

158 ; location, 158 map. 
Bergen (ber'gen), N.J., location, 91 map ; 

founded, 95. 
Berkeley, Governor of Virginia, 51. 
Berkeley (berk'li). Lord, obtains part of 

New Jersey, 97; sells it to Quakers, 98. 
Blockade runners, 212 ; picture of one, 

213. 
Blockhouse in Maine, picture, 73. 
Bon Homme Richard (French bon-om-re- 

shar'), battle with the Serapis, 163 ; pic- 
ture of, 164. 
Books, in America before the Revolution, 

130 ; the first great American writers 

of, 194. 
Boston, Mass., founded by the Winthrop 

colony, 63; first town house in, picture, 

65^ massacre in, 137; the Tea-partj, 



138 ; punished by the Port Bill, 139 ; 
siege of, 142-148. 

Boston and Worcester Railroad train of 
1835, picture, 191. 

Boston Massacre, 137 ; Paul Revere's pic- 
ture of, 137. 

Boston Port Bill, 139. 

Boston Tea-party, 138. 

Bowery, The, why so named, 92. 

Boy Scouts, 248. 

Braddock (brad'ok), General, scorns ad- 
vice, 124; his line of march, 124 map; 
his army routed, 124 ; killed, 125. 

Bradford, William, in the Pilgrim explor- 
ing party, 55; his armchair, picture, 57 ; 
defies Canonicus, 58 ; picture, 59 ; stops 
a Christmas celebration, 59, 60. 

Brooklyn (brook'lin) Heights, Howe drives 
Washington from, 151. 

Brown, John, in Kansas, 205 ; his raid, 206. 

Bryant, William Cullen, 194 ; his home at 
Roslyn, picture, 194. 

Buchanan (bu-kan'an), James, president, 
203, 205. 

Bull Run, battle of, 210-212. 

Bunker Hill, fortified by the Americans, 
144 ; battle of, 145 ; view of the battle, 
145'; the monument erected, 187; picture 
of the monument on, 187. 

Burgesses (bfir'jes-ez), House of, in Vir- 
ginia, estabUshed, 50 ; objects to Stamp 
Act, 135 ; to Boston Port Bill, 139. 

Burgoyne (bur-goin'), General, his invasion 
of New York, 158 ; the region of his in- 
vasion, map, 158 ; surrender, 159. 

Burke, Edmund, objects to the Stamp 
Act, 135. 

Burning of Charlestown and the Battle of 
Bunker Hill, picture, 145. 

Cabot (kab'ot), John, his voyage to Amer- 
ica, 13, 14; describing his voyage, picture, 
14. 

California (kal-T-for'ni-a), discovery of 
gold in, 203; trouble over its admission 
as a state, 204. 

Canal showing horses, tow-boats, and 
locks, picture, 190, 



INDEX 



111 



Cannon captured in the Revolution, pic- 
ture, 147 ; captured from the Barbary 
States, picture, 175. 

Canoe (ka-nob'), making a, 3G. 

Canonieus (ka-non i-kiis), hostile to Ply- 
mouth, 58 ; receives Roger Williams, 75 ; 
prevented by Williams from joining the 
Pequots, 80. 

Cape Breton (bret'on), Island, 121. 

Capture of Hannah Duston, picture, 120. 

Carolinas (kar-o-li'naz). See North and 
South Carolina. 

Carolinas and Georgia, The, map, 109. 

Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, 140 ; pic- 
ture, 139. 

Carpet-baggers, 230. 

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, signs the 
Declaration of Independence, 149. 

Carteret (kar'te-rei). Sir George, obtains 
New Jersey, 97. 

Carteret, Philip, cousin of Sir George, his 
reception in New Jersey, 98. 

Cartier (kar-tya'), Jacques, sails to the St. 
Lawrence, 20 ; claims the territory for 
France, 21. 

Carver (kar'ver), John, in the Pilgrims' 
exploring party, 55. 

Catholics, persecution of, in England, 104, 
105 ; Maryland founded for, 105. 

Centennial Exposition, 234. 

Chaise (shaz), an old-fashioned, picture, 
189. 

Chaleurs, Bale des (ba da sha-lSr'), discov- 
ered, 20. 

Chambersburg (cham'bSrz-bfirg), location, 
216 map ; burned, 223. 

Champlain (sham-plan'), his early years, 
114 ; explores the St. Lawrence, 114 ; 
joins the Indians opposed to the Iro- 
quois, 115. 

Charles I., grants a charter to Puritans to 
form the Massachusetts Bay Company, 
61 ; portrait of, 61 ; his despotism, 62 ; 
grants Maryland to Lord Baltimore, 
105. 

Charles II., provoked over the sale of 
Maine to Massachusetts, 73 ; annuls the 
Massachusetts charter, 74 ; Penn's con- 



duct to, 100 ; grants Pennsylvania to 
Penn, 101 ; portrait of, 101 ; grants Car- 
olina to a company, 109. 

Charleston (charlz'tou), located, 109 map; 
165 map ; first settlement in South Caro- 
lina, 110 ; entrance of the harbor, pic- 
ture, 110 ; British defeated at, 150. 

Charter Oak episode, 82. 

Chicago as it was in 1832, picture, 186. 

Chiekamauga (chik-a-ma'ga), battle of, 
221 ; location, 224 map. 

Child labor laws, 247. 

Chinese, exclusion of, 237 ; students, 247. 

Civil Service Reform, 235, 239. 

Clark, George Rogers, drives the British 
out of the Northwest, 162. 

Clark, WiUiam, sent to explore the North- 
west, 176. 

Clark's Island, landing of Pilgrims on, 
55. 

Clay, Henry, his birthplace, picture, 186 ; 
urges the Missouri Compromise, 187 ; 
and the Compromise of 1850, 204. 

Cleveland, Grover, president, 236, 237. 

Clinton, Governor, of New York, inter- 
ested in the Erie Canal, 190. 

Codfish, picture of a, 33. 

Columbian Exposition, the, 240 ; peri- 
style at, picture, 240. 

Columbus (ko-lum'bus), Christopher, born 
at Genoa, 2 ; plans to cross the Atlantic, 
3 ; his armor, picture, 3 ; refused assist- 
ance and deceived by Portugal, 4 ; goes 
to Spain, 4 ; at La Rabida, 5 ; his de- 
mands, 5, 6 ; aided by Queen Isabella, 
6 ; his voyage, 7, 8 ; his ship, picture, 8 ; 
lands on San Salvador, 9 ; picture of the 
landing, 10 ; his reception in Spain, 10, 
11 ; makes an egg stand on end, 11 ; his 
later voyages, 11 ; his death and charac- 
ter, 12 ; statue of, 12. 

Companion of Governor NicoUs, picture, 
97. 

Compass, varies on Columbus's voyage, 8 ; 
picture of an early, 8. 

Compromise of 1850, 204. 

Concord, fight at, 142. 

Confederacy, the, organized, 208 ; map of, 



IV 



INDEX 



211 ; shut in by the capture of the Mis- 
sissippi, 221 ; cut in two by Sherman, 
225 ; comes to an end, 226, 227, 

Confederate, a, picture, 210. 

Confederate battle flag', picture, 208. 

Confederate capitol, Richmond, picture, 
223. 

Congress of the United States, how made 
up, 170 ; power of, 171. 

Connecticut (k5n-et-T'kiit), beginnings of, 
77, 78 ; Hooker's party goes to, 79 ; 
Davenport's party founds New Haven, 
81 ; education in, 82 ; preservation of 
the charter, 82. 

Connecticut Valley settlements, map, 82. 

Conservation of natural resources, 248. 

Constantinople (kon-stan-ti-no'pl), eastern 
trade through, 2 ; captured by Turks, .3. 

Constitution of the United States, prepa- 
ration and adoption of, 170, 171 ; Thir- 
teenth Amendment to, 229. 

Constitution, the, picture of, 177 ; her fight 
with the Guerri^re, 178. 

Continental (kon-ti-nen'tal) Congress, the 
meeting of the first, 110 ; of the second, 
members of it, 143 ; its lack of money, 
156. 

Continental money, picture of, 156 ; its 
depreciation in value, 164. 

Contrabands, what they were, 217. 

Cooper (kobp'er), J. Fenimore, 194. 

Corduroy roads, picture, 224. 

Cornwallis (korn-wal'is), Lord, drives 
Washington across New Jersey, 152 ; 
beaten at Trenton, 152 ; and Princeton, 
154; his operations in South Carolina, 
164 ; goes to Yorktown, 167 ; surrender 
of, 167 ; picture of the surrender, 167. 

Corporations investigated, 246, 247. 

Cotton, raised in Georgia, 172; picture 
of, 172 ; cotton field, picture of, 173 ; ex- 
port of, by blockade runners, 212. 

Cotton-gin, invented by Whitney, 172 ; 
picture of, 173 ; effect of, on slavery and 
duties, 173. 

Coureurs de bois (French, kob-rer' de 
bwa), who they were, 116 ; picture of 
one, 116. 



Cuba (ku'ba), trouble over the revolution 
in, 241 ; location, 243 map, 247 7nap ; 
given her freedom, 244 ; controlled, 246. 

Cuban homestead, a, picture, 241. 

Cup given by Winthrop, picture, 64, 

Currency bill, 248. 

Dare, Virginia, 29. 

Davenport (da'ven-port). Rev. John, leads 
his church to New Haven, 81. 

Davis, Jefferson, in the Mexican War, 
202 ; chosen president of the Confeder- 
acy, 208. 

De Soto (da so'to), discovers the Missis- 
sippi, 21-23 ; picture, 22. 

Debtors, condition of, in England, 111. 

Declaration of Independence, signed, 148 ; 
incidents of its signing, 149. 

Deerfield (der'feld), Mass., location, 80 
map, 119 ma^J ; attack on, 120, 

Delaware (del'a-war), Swedes in, 93, 94; 
conquered by the Dutch, 94, 95. 

Delaware River, location, 151 map ; 
Washington's retreat across the, 152 ; 
Washington crossing the, picture, 152. 

Dewey (dii'i), Commodore, captures the 
Spanish fleet at Manilla, 242. 

Dinwiddie (din-wid i). Governor, of Vir- 
ginia, sends Washington to Fort Du- 
quesne, 123. 

Doughoregan Manor, Maryland, picture, 
107. 

Dover (do'ver), N.H., location, 62 map, 
119 map ; settled, 72. 

Dred Scott Decision, 205. 

Duston (dus'ton), Mrs. Hannah, capture 
and escape of, 120. 

Dutch, make settlements on the Con- 
necticut, 77, 78 ; Hudson River explored 
for, 89 ; settle in New Netherlands, 90- 
93 ; conquer New Sweden, 94 ; over- 
thrown by the English, 95. 

Dutch flag, picture, 91. 

Dutch West India Company, activities 
along the Hudson River, 90 ; introduce 
the patroon system, 91. 

Farly (erl'i), General, 222, 223. 



INDEX 



Early settler's house, pictiire, 84. 

Elliot, John, preaches to the Indians, 66, 
67. 

Elizabeth, Queen, story of, and Raleigh, 
26 ; portrait of, 27 ; her reasons for not 
aiding Raleigh's expedition, 28 ; picture 
of her coach, 28. 

Elm in Cambridge, under which Washing- 
ton took command of the army, picture, 
146. 

Emancipatign (e-man-si-pa'shun) Procla- 
mation, signed, 218. 

Embargo (em-bar'go) Act, passed, 176. 

Emigrants going West across the prairies, 
picture, 185. 

England, Cabot sails from, 14 ; her claims 
in North America, 24 ; advantages to her 
of colonies in America, 27, 28 ; defeats 
the Spanish Armada, 30 ; religious per- 
secution in, 52 ; condition of poor debtors 
in. 111; contest with France in America, 
119 ; her supremacy in America settled, 
128 ; passes laws oppressive to America, 

133 ; tries to keep a standing army in 
America, 133, 134 ; writs of assistance, 

134 ; attitude toward the colonies, 135 ; 
passes the Stamp Act, 135 ; repeals it, 
136'; imposes the tea tax, 137 ; revolu- 
tion against, 141-168 ; causes of the war 
of 1812 with, 176 ; attitude of, toward 
the Confederacy, 212 ; influence of the 
Trent affair on, 213. 

English soldier, of 1603, picture, 44 ; of 

Wolfe's time, picture, 127. 
Ericsson (er'ik-son), John, inventor of the 

monitor, 215. 
Erie Canal, building of, 190. 

Faneuil (fan'el) Hall, picture of, 133. 

Farragut (far'a-gut), David, sent to take 
New Orleans, 213, 214 ; an August morn- 
ing with, picture, 214. 

Federal Reserve Board, 249. 

Ferdinand (fer'di-nand). King, of Spain 
considers Columbus's plans, 4 ; builds a 
tomb to him, 12. 

Field, Cyrus (si'rus) W., puts through the 
Atlantic Cable, 231. 



Fillmore (fil'mor), Millard (mil'lard). Pre- 
sident, 203. 

First meeting-house in Salem, picture, 74. 

First town house in Boston, picture, 65. 

Fishhooks of bone, 38. 

Flax wheel, picture, 87. 

Florida, explored by Ponce de Leon, 16 ; 
claimed by Spain, 24 ; bought by the 
United States, 184. 

Foot-stove, picture of, 85. 

Fort Christiana, built, 94 ; location, 102 
7nap. 

Fort Duquesne (doo-kan'), built, 123 ; loca- 
tion, 124 map; Braddock's defeat at, 
124, 125. 

Fort McHenry, Baltimore, picture, 181. 

Fort Moultrie, location, 165 map. 

FortStaiiwix (stan'wix), location, 158 map; 
siege of, 159. 

PWt Sumter (sum'ter) besieged, 208 ; sur- 
rendered, 209 ; in 1861, picture, 210 ; loca- 
tion, 211 map; retaken, 227. 

Fort Ticonderoga. See Ticonderoga. 

Fortress of Quebec, the, as it is to-day, 
picture, 126. 

"Forty-niners," 203. 

"Fountain of Youth," 16. 

France, sends out Jacques Cartier, 20; 
her claims in North America, 24 ; ex- 
plorations, 114 ; contest with England in 
America begun, 119; pushes her set- 
tlements into the Ohio valley, 123 ; her 
supremacy in North America ended, 
127, 130 ; attempts to win her aid for the 
colonies, 157; sends a fleet to America, 
161 ; trouble with the United States, 
173; sells Louisiana, 175; presents the 
Bartholdi Statue of Liberty to the 
United States, 237. 

Franklin (frank'lin), Benjamin, his advice 
to Braddock, 124 ; his Poor Richard's 
Almanac, 131 ; his device to represent 
union or death, picture, 136 ; his re- 
mark about Concord fight, 142 ; in the 
second Continental Congress, 143 ; signs 
the Declaration of Independence, 149 ; 
portrait of, 150 ; sent to France, 157 ; 
his remark about Howe in Philadelphia, 



VI 



INDEX 



161 ; his contribution to the Colnmbian 
Exposition, 246. 

Franklin's printing-press, picture, 132, 

Freight wagon, picture, 189. 

French frigate, a, picture, 162. 

French frontier in the North, map, 119. 

Fugitive-slave law, 204. 

Fulton (ful'toni, Robert, invents the 
steamboat, 183 ; picture of his boat, 183. 

Fur trade, in Maine, 71 ; between Maine 
and Massachusetts, 72 ; in Xew Nether- 
lands, 90, 91 ; forbidden to patroons, 91, 
92. 

Gage (gaj'i, General, sends British troops 
from Boston to Concord, 141 ; besieged 
in Boston, 142 ; decides to storm Bunker 
Hill, 144. 

Garfield, James A., elected president, 
235 ; assassinated. 23.3 ; portrait. 233. 

Garrison (gar-ri-s6n '. Wdham Lloyd (loid"i, 
publishes the '"Liberator," 195. 

Geneva (jen-e'va\ 232. 

Genoa (jen'o-a), birthplace of Columbus. 
2 ; interested in Asiatic trade, 2 ; re- 
fuses to assist Columbus, 3. 

Gentleman of 1610, a. picture of, 46. 

Georgia (jor'ji-a\ why chosen for settle- 
ment, 112 ; first settlement in, 112 ; in- 
dustries of, 113 ; given up to the king, 
113 ; captured by the British, 163. 

Gettysburg 'get'iz-burg\ location. 216 
map : battle of. 219 ; dedication of field, 
and Lincoln's speech at. 219. 

Gomez (Spanish, go'meth'. General. 241. 

Goodyear, Charles, vulcanizes rubber. 199. 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando (fer-di-nan'do 
g6r'jez\ becomes interested in Maine, 
71 ; associates -with Mason. 72 ; takes 
Maine in the division of land, 73. 

" Grand Model.*' Locke's code of law for 
Carolina. 110. 

Grant. GreneralU. S., in the Mexican War. 
202 ; takes Vicksbnrg. 220 ; put at the 
head of the array. 222 ; portrait of. 222 ; 
presses on to-ward Richmond. 222 : forces 
Lee to surrender, 226 ; becomes presi- 
dent, 232. 



"Greenbacks," 234. 

Greene, General, opposes Comvallis in 

the South, 166, 167. 
Greenland, Norse and Swedish voyages 

to, 2. 
Guam igwam), ceded to the United States, 

244 ; location, 24S map. 
Guerriere {French, gar-ri-arrO, sunk by 

the Constitution, 177, 178. 
Gunboat, L'nion river, picture. 220. 

"Hah,, Columbia." written. 174. 

Hakluyt (.hak'lit . Richard, his recom- 
mendations about America. 27, 28; ad- 
vice to emigrants to America in 1607, 
43. 

Half -Moon, Hudson's vessel, 89 ; picture 
of. leaving Anasterdam. 89. 

Hamilton (ham'il-t6n'>, Alexander, his sug- 
gestions as secretary of the treasary. 
171 : portrait of, 172. 

Hancock. John, attempt to capture at 
Lexington. 141 ; member of the second 
Continental Congress, 14^5 ; recommends 
the burning of Boston, 147; his house 
in Boston, picture. 14S ; signs the Dec- 
laration of Independence, 149. 

Harper's Ferry. John Brown captured at, 
20<) ; picture, 206 ; location. 216 map. 

Harrison (har'i-son). Benjamin, elected 
president. 237, 238. 

Harrison. William Henry, his presidential 
campaign. 197 ; his death, 198. 

'"Harrison Campaign Almanac,'' picture 
from the. 19S. 

Hartford i.hart'ford). Conn,, English drive 
the Dutch from, 78 ; Thomas Hooker 
founds the city, 79 ; first meeting-house 
in. picture. 79 ; location, 80 map. 

Harvard (harvard. John, gives his library 
to the college, 66 ; statue of, 66. 

Harvard College founded, 66. 

Haverhill iha'Te-ril\ Mass., location, 119 
map : Lidian attack on. 120. 

Hay. John. 247. 

Hayes. Rutherford (ruth'er-ford) B., 
elected president, 234. 

Henry, Patrick, speaks on Stamp Act, 135-' 



INDEX 



▼11 



on Bostoa Port BIIL 139 ; in Congress. 

IS), l-t> ; governor of Virginia. lto2. 
Heasaas h.esli'inz. , hireii to figkt in 

America, IJd ; beaten at Trenton, 152. 
Yfnlhnd, Kfo of rht^ PiTgr fms in. oii ; flag- 

of, fietaR. 91. 
Hooker hoofc'er . Eev. Tkomas. leads a 

party to Hartford. Conn.. 75. 
Hoaae- where Yale Colle^ was f oonded. >l!. 
Hflvve, KSa«, invents practical sewing ma- 

efcme'^19&. 
Howe. Genpral, takes G^Kral Gage's 

place. lir ; eTsesates Boston, li? : 

dirves Washington from New York. 151. 
Hndaon Kud'son', Henry, early life. S8; 

diaeovers the Hndson River, S9 ; lost. 

89. 
Hndson River, discovered. S9 : Dtctcii col- 
onists on. 90, 91 ; settlements aboitt, 

map, 91; BricisK plan to get eantcol of, 

151, 1J8. 
Huguenots kn'se-nots^^ emigration of, to 

die Carolinas. 110. 
Hull, Captain, defeats tke GhiernAre, 177, 

17». 

LsDEPEJTDEyCE TT^rr, picture of. l-iB ; 
President" 3 eliaic in. picture, 170. 

India, tkei^ries of reaching, hf enasBis 
the Atlantic. 1. 

InAiitn baby's eradle. pietare,37. 

Indian ^;om. piotme. 47. 

[miian tnr-craders. pietnre, 7S. 

Lndians m-di-ins . why so named, 10, 34 ; 
fast picture of a South ATnerifBiiii. 11 ; 
pietnre of a Mexican. 20 ; their eiiarae- 
c^stics. 3-t : their dwellings, o3 ; squaws 
and braves. -3.5. 3*5 : the papoose. 3t3. 37 ; 
ekildreu*s education, 37 ; weapons. o>> : 
games of the boys. 38 ; method of fieit- 
ing, 39 ; wampum, 39. i)} : religion, -b) ; 
conduct toward whites. -11 : attitude to- 
ward eoloosts at Jamestown. 45. i7 : at 
Plynaoutfa- 57 ; John Eliot's service to. 
(56, 67; under King - Philip attack the 
T:ngT^h , 68 ; Pequot War. ^L SI ; Penn's 
trastznem: of, 102. KSS : Champlain's 
eaaisut towaid, 115 ; the Jesuit feeling 



for. 116 ; gemasl sttitode of the Frenck 
to. 116; attack Schenectady. 119; 
Haverhill and Deerfield. 120 ; help the 
Tories against the Americans. 162 ; 
stirred up by the Fng-Ii^h in the war of 
1S12, 179 ; Seminole War, ISo ; troubles 
with, in the West. 2^8. 

Internal nnprovements, pajnaeKfe foe, tSS. 

Inventions. 199. 

Ir<x]Uois ir'o-kwoi). Pennsylvania Ib^sbb 
tribatary to. li.io ; rendered kostile' to 
the French by Champlain's attack, 115. 

Irving. Washington. 194. 

Isabella rs-i-btella;. queen of Spain, i; 
helps Colnmbos. 5. 6 ; portraic of, 7 ; 
received Columbas on his return. 11. 

Jacksos. Ajtdbew-, wins the battle of 
New Orleans, Lsl ; sent against the Semi- 
noles, 1S4: ; events of his presidaicy, 
192-194 ; portrait of. 192. 

Jackson, "StonewalL" at Bail Eon. 212. 

James L. king of England, courts the 
favor of Spain. 31 : grants Virginia to 
the London and Plymouth Companies, 
42 ; persecutes the Puritans and Separar 
tists. 52, 33. 

Jamestown i^mz'town', founded. 44; 
hardships at. 44 ; John Smith becomes 
governor. 46 ; colonists obliged to work, 
47 ; "* starvinar time " in, 4S : picture of, 
in 1622, 49 : location, 102 nap, 

Je^ersoiir Thomas, author of the Declara- 
ttt^ of Independence, 1-& ; portrait of. 
150 : events of hs term, as presideni;, 
174-176 ; his death. ISS. 

Jesuit (jer'tt-it; explorer, a, picture, 115. 

Jesuits, the, 116, 117. 

Johnson, Andrew, becomes president, 229. 

Johnston, General Samuel Josepk E., 22S, 
224. 

JoHet Frenck. zho-lya'' . explores the ilis- 
sissippi with Marquette. 117. 

Jones. John PanI, captures the Serapis, 
163. 

i\ AVS-^ kaa'zas}, trouble over slaTery in, 
2Co. 



Vlll 



INDEX 



Keg brought through the Erie Canal, 191. 
Key (ke), Francis ttcott, author of " The 

Star-Spangled Banner," 181. 
King Philip. See Philip. 

La Plata (lapla'ta) River, visited by Ma- 
gellan, 17. 

La Rabida (la ra'be-da), convent of, 
Columbus received at, 5 ; picture of, 6. 

La Salle (la sal), explores the Mississippi 
to its mouth, 117 ; attempts to plant a 
colony at its mouth, 118 ; murdered, 118. 

Ladrones (la-dronz), location, 18 map ; 
discovered by Magellan, 19 ; one taken 
from Spain by the United States, 244. 

Lafayette (la-fa-yet'), portrait of , 157 ; 
comes to America, 157 ; at Yorktown, 
167 ; visits America, 187. 

Lee, General Henry, pronounces Washing- 
ton's funeral oration, 174. 

Lee, Richard Henry, at first Continental 
Congress, 140 ; urges independence, 148. 

Lee, General Robert E., in the Mexican 
War, 202 ; captures John Brown, 206 ; 
portrait of, 216; in command of the 
Confederate army, 216 ; withdraws from 
Antietam, 217 ; defeated at Gettysbiirg, 
219 ; surrenders at Appomattox, 226. 

Lewis (lii is), Meriwether (me'ri-weth-er), 
picture of, 175 ; explores the North- 
west, 176. 

Lexington, battle of, 142. 

Liberty, statue of, presented to the United 
States by France, 237 ; picture of, 238. 

Liberty Bell, picture of, 149. 

Lincoln (link' on), Abraham, elected presi- 
dent, 206; portrait of, 209; calls for 
volunteers, 210 ; signs the Emancipation 
Proclamation, 218 ; his Gettysburg 
speech, 219 ; assassinated, 227. 

Locke, John, formulates the "Grand 
Model" for Carolina, 110. 

London (liin'don) Companj', grant to, 42 ; 
map of grant, 43 ; founds Jamestown, 
43, 44 ; foolish demands upon the colony, 
47 ; sends a shipload of women to Vir- 
ginia, 49 ; agrees to permit a legislative 
assembly in Virginia, 50. 



"Lone Star State," 198. 

Long Island, battle of, 151. 

Ijong Wharf, the Tea-party at, 138 ; tab 
let on, picture, 140. 

Lookout Mountain, battle of, 221. 

Louisburg (lob'is-burg), location, 119 map; 
attacked by New England troops, 121 ; 
view of, from the northeast, 121 ; cap- 
tured, 122 ; cross captured at, picture, 
122. 

Louisiana (lob-e-zi-a'na) Territory, pur- 
chased from France, 175 ; explored, 
176. 

McClellan (mak-klel'lan). General, 
trains the Union army, 212 ; advances 
on Richmond and is repulsed, 216. 

McDowell (mak-dow'el), Irvin, Union 
commander at BviU Run, 211. 

McKinley (ma-kin'li), William, proposes 
a protective tariff, 238 ; made president, 
241 ; portrait of, 244 ; reelected and 
assassinated, 245. 

Madison (mad'i-son), Dolly, her escape 
from Washington, 180 ; portrait, 180. 

Madison, James, events during his term 
as president, 176. 

Magellan (ma-jel'an), portrait of, 17 ; sails 
frem Spain, 17 ; discovers Magellan's 
Straits, 18 ; killed in the Philippines, 19. 

Magellan's Straits, discovered, 18 ; natives 
of, 19. 

Mail system, before the Revolution, 130. 

Maine, The, entering Havana Harbor, 
picture, 242. 

Maine, beginnings in, 70, 71 ; why so 
named, 72 ; settlements in, 72 ; separated 
from New Hampshire and bought by 
Massachusetts, 73 ; admitted as a state, 
187. 

Manhattan (man-hat'tan) Island, first set- 
tlement on, 90. 

Manila (ma-nira), battle of, 242 ; location, 
242 map ; 247 map. 

Maps : the one Columbus used, 4 ; showing 
real position of the continents, 5 ; of 
Columbus's route, 9 ; showing the old 
idea of a southern continent, 15 ; the 



INDEX 



ix 



route of Magellan's ships, 18 ; grants to 
the London and Plymouth companies, 
43 ; New England coast settlements, 62 : 
Connecticut valley settlements, 80 ; set- 
tlements about the Hudson River, 91 ; 
the middle colonies, 102 ; the Carolinas 
and Georgia, 109 ; the French frontier 
in the North, 119 ; region about Fort 
Duquesne, 124 ; central scene of the Rev- 
olutionary War, 151 ; region of Bur- 
goyne's invasion, 158 ; seat of war in the 
South, 165 ; disputed territory of the 
Mexican War, 202 ; the Southern Con- 
federacy, 211; scene of war near Wash- 
ington and Richmond, 216; Sherman's 
route to the sea, 224 ; the Philippine 
Islands, 242 ; the West Indies, 243 ; the 
United States and its possessions, 248. 

Marion (mar i-on), Francis, his guerrilla 
warfare in South Carolina, 165. 

Marquette {French, mar-ket'), explores the 
Mississippi, 116, 117; statue, 117. 

Maryland (mer'i-land), gpranted to Lord 
Baltimore, 105 ; why named, 105 ; first 
emigrants to, 106 ; first settlement in, 
106 ; religious freedom in, 107 ; planta- 
tion life in, 107 ; Puritan rebellion in, 108. 

Mason, George, 139. 

Mason (ma'son). Captain John, helps 
Gorges in Maine, 72 ; takes New Hamp- 
shire in the division of land, 73. 

Massachusetts (mas-sa-chii'sets), founded, 
61, 62 ; Roger Williams expelled from, 
65 ; trouble with Quakers in, 67 ; at- 
tacked by King Philip, 68 ; witchcraft 
delusion, 69 ; buys Maine, 73 ; charter 
of, annulled, 73, 74 ; made a royal prov- 
ince, 74 ; people from, go to Connecticut, 
78, 79. 

Massachusetts Bay Company, chartered, 
61 ; holds its meetings in New England, 
()2 ; charter of, annulled, 73, 74. 

Massasoit (mas'a-soit), makes a treaty with 
the Pilgrims, 57 ; receives Roger Wil- 
liams, 75. 

Matchlock and rest, picture, 81. 

Mayflower, Pilgrims come to America in, 
54 ; picture of , 55. 



Merrimac (mer'-i-in4k), the, 214 ; picture 
of, 215 ; battle with the Monitor, 215. 

Mexican boy, picture, 201. 

Mexico (mex'i-ko), has trouble with Texas, 
198 ; war with, 201, 202 ; map of the dis- 
puted territory, 202 ; territory ceded by, 
202 ; intervention in, 249, 250. 

Middle colonies, map of, 102. 

Minute man, the picture, 142. 

Mississippi (mis-sis-sip' pi) River, discov- 
ered, 22 ; explored by Marquette and 
Joliet, 117 ; by La Salle, 117, 118; set- 
tlement at the mouth of, in 1719, pic- 
ture, 118 ; Union plan to get control of, 
213 ; plan succeeds, 221. 

" Missouri (mis-ob'ri) Compromise, The," 
187. 

Monitor, the, 215 ; picture of, 215 ; fight 
with the Merrimac, 215. 

Monmouth (mon'muth), location, 151 map; 
battle of, 161. 

Monongahela (mo-non-ga-he'la), 152. 

Monroe (mun-ro), James, events during 
his presidency, 183-187. 

"Monroe Doctrine, The," 184,250. 

Montcalm (mont-kam'). General, in com- 
mand of Quebec, 126; defeated by Wolfe 
and killed, 127. 

Montgomery (mont-gum'er-i). General, 
captures Montreal but is slain at Que- 
bec, 147. 

Montreal (mon-tri-al'), visited by Carrier, 
21 ; location, 119 map, 158 map ; cap- 
tured by Montgomery, 147. 

Monument at Champoeg, Oregon, picture, 
200. 

Morris (mor'is), Robert, the financial back- 
er of the Revolution, 156. 

Morristown (mor'ris-town), location, 151 
map ; winter at, 154 ; second winter at, 
166. 

Morro (mor'ro) Castle, Havana, picture, 
242 ; Santiago, picture, 244. 

Morse, Samuel F. B., invents the tele- 
graph, 199. 

Mortar for throwing shells, picture, 220. 

Moultrie (mob'tri or mobl'tri). Colonel, de- 
feats the British at Charleston, 150. 



INDEX 



Napoleon (na-po'le-6n), sells Louisiana 
to the United States, 175. 

Narragansetts (nar-a-gan'sets), threaten 
Plymouth, 58. 

Nebraska (ne-bras'ka), trouble over slav- 
ery in, 205. 

Neutrals, French, 125, 126. 

New Amsterdam (am'ster-dam), founded, 

90 ; first view of, picture, 90 ; location, 

91 map ; how governed, 92 ; view of, 
picture, 93 ; becomes New York, 97. 

New England, first colony in, 52 ; coast of, 
explored by John Smith, 53 ; coast set- 
tlements of, 7nap, 62 ; confederacy of, 
76 ; early homes in, 83, 84 ; furniture, 
85 ; home manufactures, 86, 87. 

New England kitchen, picture, 85. 

"New England Primer, " picture from, 
130 ; its contents, 131. 

New England stockade, picture, 81. 

New Hampshire, first settlement in, 72 ; 
why named, 73 ; cut from Maine and 
under the protection of Massachusetts, 
73 ; made a royal province, 74. 

New Haven (ha'vn), Conn., location, 80 
map ; founded by John Davenport, 81. 

New Jersey, first settlement in, 95 ; Nic- 
olls sends a colony to, 97 ; given to 
Berkeley and Carteret, 97 ; turned over 
to the Quakers, 98 ; Washington's re- 
treat across, 152. 

New Netherlands (neth'er-landz), why so 
named, 90 ; English and Dutch claims 
to, 93 ; becomes New York, 97. 

New Orleans (or'le-anz), attempt to buy, 
results of the Louisiana Purchase, 175 ; 
battle of, 181; location, 211 map; cap- 
tured by Farragut, 214. 

New Sweden, founded, 93 ; captured by 
the Dutch, 94, 95. 

Newspapers before the Revolution, 104, 
130. 

New York city. New Amsterdam be- 
comes, 97 ; Washington takes his army 
thither, 148. 

NicoUs ( nik'olz), Richard, sent to take 
New Netherlands for England, 96 ; be- 
«omes governor of New York, 97. 



NiHa (nen'ya), one of Columbus's ships, 7. 

North America, first seen by John Cabot, 
14 ; early views about, 19 ; French, Eng- 
lish, and Spanish claims in, 24 ; the Pa- 
cific coast explored, 32 ; Indian inhab- 
itants of, 34, 35. 

North Carolina (kar-o-li'na), grant of, 
109; first settled at Albemarle, 109; 
Huguenot emigration to, 110 ; laws of, 
110 ; industries of. 111 ; separated from 
South Carolina, 111. 

North Pole, discovery of, 247. 

Northwest Passage, search for, 19, 32. 

Northwestern Territory, all the states in- 
terested in, 170. 

Norwegian (nor-we'jan) ship, picture of, 2. 

Nueces (nwa'ses), disputed boundary, 201 ; 
location, 202 map. 

Nullification, suppressed by Jackson, 193. 

Oglethorpe (ogl'thorp). General James, 
portrait of. 111 ; plans to relieve the 
debtors and prisoners in England, 112 ; 
chooses Georgia for his settlement. 112 ; 
his expectation for the colony, 113. 

Ohio (o-hi'o), valley of, claimed by France, 
123. 

Oklahoma (o-kla-ho'ma), opened to settle- 
ment, 239 ; admitted as a state, 247. 

"Old Abe," 220; picture, 221. 

" Old Glory," first appearance of, 159. 

"Old Ironsides," picture, 177. 

Old South Meeting-House,- picture of, 72 ; 
picture of the pulpit, 138. 

Old State House in Philadelphia, picture, 
149. 

Olives, prospect of raising in Georgia, 113 ; 
branch of, picture, 113. 

Oregon (or'e-g'on), interest in aroused, 200; 
boundary of, settled, 201. 

Osawatomie (os-a-wat'o-me), 205. 

Osceola (os-se-o'la), chief of the Semi- 
noles, picture, 184. 

Pacific (pa-sTf 'ik) Ocean, first crossed by 

Magellan, 18. 
Palos (pa'los), location, 5 map ; Columbus 

starts from, 6, 7. 



INDEX 



XI 



Panama (pan-a-ma') Canal, 247. 

Papoose (pap-obs'), treatment of, 36 ; pic- 
ture of, o7. 

Patroon (pa-trobn') system, introduced 
along the Hudson River, 91. 

Peary, Commander Robt. E., 247. 

Peggy Stewart, the brig, 139. 

Pemaquid (pem'a-kwldj, location, 62 7naj) ; 
settled, 72. 

Penn (pen), Admiral, disappointed in his 
son, 99, 100. 

Penn, William, early years, 99 ; portrait 
of, at twenty-two, 99 ; turns Quaker, 
100 • conduct toward the king, 100 ; 
obtains Pennsylvania, 101 ; decides to 
pay the Indians for the laud, 101, 102 ; 
founds Philadelphia, 102 ; makes friends 
of the Indians, 102, 103 ; autograph and 
seal, picture, 103 ; returns to England, 

103 ; his house, picture, 104. 
Pennsylvania (pen-sil-va'iii-a) granted to 

Penn, 101 ; settled by Quakers, 102 ; 
bought from the Indians, 102, 103 ; edu- 
cation in, 103, 104. 

Pequots (pe'kwotz), make war on the Eng- 
lish, 80; defeated, 81. 

Perry, Commodore 0. H., builds a fleet on 
Lake Erie, 177 j captures the British 
fleet, 178, 179 ; his flag, picture, 179 ; 
his message, 179. 

Petersburg, location, 216 map; Grant at, 
222. 

Philadelphia (fil-a-del'fi-a), founded, 102 ; 
becomes the largest city in the colonies, 

104 ; French Neutrals in, 126 ; first Conti- 
nental Congress meets in, 139 ; British 
forces take, 160. 

Philip, king, makes war on the English, 
68 ; killed, f)9 ; picture of, 69. 

Philippine (fil'i-peii) canoe, picture of, 19. 

Philippine Islands, discovered by Magel- 
lan, 19 ; map of, 242 ; sold to the United 
States, 244 ; location of, 247 map. 

Pierce (pers or purs), Franklin, president, 
203. 

Pilgrim cradle, picture of, 56. 

Pilgrim dress, picture of, 52. 

Pilg^rims, who they were, 52 ; escape to 



Holland, 53 ; plan to come to America, 
53 ; their departure from Holland, pic- 
ture, 54 ; their voyage in the May- 
flower, 54 ; search for a home, 55 ; suf- 
ferings of, 56 ; relations with the In- 
dians, 57, 58 ; going to church, picture, 
58; their religious feeling, 59, 60. 

Pillory, the, picture, 68. 

Piuckney (piuk'ui), Charles, his defiance 
of France, 174. 

Pinta (Spanish, pen'ta), one of Columbus's 
ships, 7. 

Pipe, an Indian, picture of, 40. 

Piscataqua (pis-kat'a-kwa) River, divides 
Maine and New Hampshire, 73. 

Pistol, of Ponce de I^eon's time, picture, 
16; Dutch fiintlock, picture, 94; flint- 
lock given by Lafayette to Washington, 
156. 

Pitt, William, objects to the Stamp Act, 
135. 

Plymouth (plim'oth), Mass., reason for 
the colony begun at, 52 ; named by 
John Smith, 55 ; landing of Pilgrims at, 
56 ; first winter at, 56 ; first Thanksgiv- 
ing at, 58 ; town meeting begun at, 59 ; 
location, 62 map; people of, establish a 
post at Windsor, Conn., 78. 

Plymouth Company, grant to, 42 ; map of 
grant, 43 ; sells Massachusetts to the 
Massachusetts Bay Company, 61. 

Plymouth Rock, picture of, 56. 

Pocahontas (po-ka-hon'tas), s.ives John 
Smith, 46 ; marries John Rolfe and goes 
to England, 48. 

Polk (pok), James K., events of his presi- 
dency, 201-203. 

Ponce de Leon (Spanish, pon'tha dala-on'), 

explores Florida, 16. 
"Pony Express, The," 233; picture of, 

233. 
" Poor Richard's Almanac," 131. 
Population of America in the eighteenth 

century, 129. 
Port Hudson, La., location, 211 map ; cap- 
tured, 221. 
Port Royal, N.S., location, 119 map. 
Porto Rico (por'to re'ko), location, 243 



Xll 



INDEX 



map, 247 map ; ceded to the United 
States, 24:4. 

Portsmouth (ports'muth), N.H., settled, 
72 ; location, 62 map. 

Portugal (por'tu-gal), refuses to aid Co- 
lumbus, 3 ; tries to prevent his voyage, 
7 ; refuses to aid Magellan, 17. 

Postrider, a, picture, 130 ; days of, in the 
far West, 233. 

Powder house near Boston, picture, 141. 

Powhatan (pow-ha-tan'), releases John 
Smith, 46 ; sends representatives to 
England with Pocahontas, 49. 

President of the United States, how 
chosen, 170 ; power of, 171 ; succession 
in case of his death, settled, 236. 

Princeton (prins'ton), location, 151 map; 
battle of, 154. 

Printing, in the colonies, 104, 130-132, 1.36. 

Printz (prints). Governor, of New Sweden, 
94, 95. 

Providence (prov'i-dens), location, 62 map; 
founded, 75. 

Pure food laws, 247. 

Puritans (pur'T-tanz), who they were, 52 ; 
decide to found a colony in America, 
61 ; have trouble with the king in Eng- 
land, 62 ; found Boston, 62, 63 ; their 
virtues and faults, 64 ; drive out Roger 
Williams, 65 ; and the Quakers, 67, 68. 

Putnam (put'nam), Israel (iz'ra-el), hurries 
to Boston, 142 ; at Bunker Hill, 145. 

Quaker (kwa'ker) dress, picture, 67 ; por- 
trait of a, 100. 

Quakers, trouble with, in Massachusetts, 
67 ; expelled, 68 ; buy New Jersey, 98 ; 
their advanced ideas, 100 ; Penn gets 
Pennsylvania for, 101 ; pay the Indians 
for their land, 103; views on education 
contrasted with those of the Puritans, 
104. 

Quebec (kwe-bek'), Champlain's picture 
of, 114 ; named by him, 115 ; location, 
119 map ; fortress of, picture, 126 ; at- 
tacked by Wolfe, 126 ; captured by the 
English, 127 ; Arnold's expedition to, 
147. 



Quincy (kwin'zi), Josiah, defends the sot 
diers concerned in the Boston Massa- 
cre, 137. 

Railroads, introduction of, 191. 

Raleigh (ra'li), Sir Walter, and Queen 
Elizabeth, 26 ; birthplace of, 26 ; colo- 
nies of, 29, 30 ; imprisoned by James I, 
31 ; gives up his claim on Virginia, 42. 

Randolph, Peyton, president of the first 
Continental Congress, 140. 

Region about Fort Duquesne, map, 124. 

Region of Burgoyne's invasion, map, 158. 

Reina Mercedes (Spanish, ra-e'na mar- 
tha'das), wreck of the, picture, 244. 

Revere, Paul, his ride, 141. 

Revolutionary dance, picture, 160. 

Revolutionary War, causes, 133-140 ; first 
two years, 141-153 ; latter part of the 
war, 154-168. 

Rhode Island, beginnings of, at Provi- 
dence, 75 ; on Rhode Island, 76 ; obtains 
a charter, 76, 77. 

Rice, picture of. 111 ; staple product of 
South Carolina, 111. 

Richmond (rich'mond), chosen capital of 
the Confederacy, 210 ; MeClellan's ad- 
vance on, 216 ; location, 216 map ; Grant's 
advance on, 222, 223 ; Confederate cap- 
itol in, picture, 223 ; captured by Grant, 
226. 

Rio Grande (Spanish, re'o gran'da), quai"- 
rel over boundary along, 201 ; campaigns 
on, 202 ; location, 202 7nap. 

Roanoke (ro-a-nok) Island, first colony 
on, 29; second, 29, 30; colony disap- 
pears, 30; location, 43 map, 109 map; 
search for colony required by the Lon- 
don Company, 47. 

Rolfe, John, marries Pocahontas, 48. 

Roosevelt (ro'ze-velt), Theodore, charac- 
ter of, 243 ; leads the Rough Riders, 
243 ; becomes president, 245. 

Rough Riders, the, 243 ; picture of one, 
243. 

Saint Augustine (a'giis-ten), Fla., 
founded. 25 ; location, 109 map. 



INDEX 



Xlll 



?aint Lawrence (la'rens) River, explored 
by Cartier, 21 ; valley of, claimed by 
France, 24. 

Saint Mary's, Md., location, 102 map ; 
first settlement in Maryland, 106, 

Salem, Mass., founded, 61 ; location, 62 
map ; first meeting-house in, picture, 
74. • 

Samoset, welcomes the English at Plym- 
outh, 57. 

San Francisco (fran-sis'ko) in 1849, pic- 
ture, 203. 

San Salvador (siin sal-va-dor), where Co- 
lumbus landed, 9. 

Santa Maria (Spanish, san'tama-re'a), one 
of Columbus's ships, 7 ; picture of, 8. 

Santiago de Cuba (Spanish, san-te-a'go 
da kob'ba), Spanish fleet at, 242 ; Amer- 
ican troops sent there, 243 ; location, 
243 map ; battle of, 244. 

Saratoga (sar-a-to'ga), location, 158 map ; 
Burgoyne's surrender at, 159. 

Sassafras (sas'sA-fras), 33; picture, 32. 

Savannah (sa-van'a), location, 109 map, 165 
map, 211 map ; founded, 112 ; in 1741, 
picture, 112 ; taken by Sherman, 224. 

Scalplock, the, 39. 

Scene of Civil War near Washington and 
Richmond, map, 216. 

Schenectady (ske-nek'ta-di), location, 
119 map ; attacked by French and In- 
dians, 119, 120. 

Scott, General Winfield, his success in 
Mexico, 202 ; commands at the begin- 
ning of the Civil War, 210. 

Sea of Darkness, old idea of, 1 ; six- 
teenth century picture of, 1. 

Seat of Revolutionary War in the South, 
map, 165. 

Secession of Southern States, 206. 

Seminole (sem'i-nol) War, 183, 184. 

Separatists, who they were, 52. 

Serapis (se-ra'pTs), battle with the Bon 
Homme Richard, 163 ; picture of, 164. 

Shenandoah (shen-an-do'a) Valley, Gen- 
eral Early in, 223 ; General Sheridan's 
devastation of, 223. 

Sheridan (sher'i-dan), Philip, devastates 



the Shenandoah Valley, 223; his ride, 
223. 

Sherman (shSr'man), General, at Vicks- 
burg, 220 ; his march to the sea, 224 ; 
marches northward through the Caro- 
linas, 226. 

Sherman's route to the sea, map, 223. 

Silkworm, picture of, 25. 

Sitka (sit'ka), Alaska, picture, 231. 

Slavery, introduced into America, 51 ; in 
the colonies, 129 ; effect of the cotton- 
gin on, 173 ; questions on, begin to arise, 
186 ; the Missouri Compromise, 187 ; 
increasing antagonism to, 195, 196 ; con- 
sidered in the admission of Texas, 199 ; 
the compromise of 1850, 204 ; the Dred 
Scott Decision, 205. 

Slaves at work, picking cotton, picture, 
173 ; declared contraband of war, 217. 

Smith, Captain John, picture of, 44 ; early 
career, 45 ; saved by Pocahontas, 46 ; 
activity as governor of Virginia, 46, 47 ; 
returns to England, 48 ; sails for Gorges 
and is captured by the French, 71, 72. 

South Carolina (kar-o-ll'na), first settled 
at Charleston, 109, 110 ; Huguenot em- 
igration to, 110 ; laws of, 110 ; industries 
of. 111 ; separated from North Carolina, 
111. 

Spain, Columbus received in, 4 ; his re- 
ception in, after his voyage, 10, 11 ; 
sends out Magellan, 17 ; derives wealth 
from Mexico and South America, 20 ; 
her claims in North America, 24 ; her 
armada defeated, 30 ; war of the United 
States with, 242-244. 

Spanish gentleman of the armada period, 
picture, 31. 

Spanish helmet, picture, 16. 

Spanish treasure seeker, picture, 25. 

Spanish treasure ships, picture, 29. 

"Spoils system," introduced by Jackson, 
192. 

Squanto (skwan'to), aids the Pilgrims, 57 ; 
kidnapping of, 70, 71. 

"Squatter sovereignty," 205. 

Squaw, picture of, 35 ; her duties, 35. 

Stage, early American, picture, 132. 



XIV 



INDEX 



Stage-coach, picture of, 188. 

Stamp Act, what it was, 134 ; passed, 135 ; 
opposition of the colonios, 136 ; repealed, 
136 ; stamp to be used under the, pic- 
ture, 134. 

Stamp tax levied by the United States, 
134, 248. 

Standish, Miles, in the PUgrims' exploring 
party, 55; his sword, picture, 57; leads 
the Pilgrim forces, 59 ; his army, picture, 
60. 

"Stai^pangled Banner, The," written, 
181. 

Stark, Colonel John, beats Burgoyne's 
men at Bennington, 158. 

"Starving time" in Virginia, 48. 

Stephenson (ste'ven-son), George, inventor 
of the steam locomotive, 191. 

Steuben (stu'ben or, German, stoi'ben), 
Baron von, drills the American army, 
161; portrait of, 161. 

Stone axe, picture of, 35. 

Stowe (sto), Mrs., 204. 

Strand, the, now Whitehall Street, New 
York, in 1673, picture, 95. 

Stuyvesant (sti've-sant), Governor, last of 
the Dutch governors of New Amster- 
dam, 92 ; conquers New Sweden, 94, 95 
resolved to oppose the English, 95, 96 
tears up Nicolls's letter, picture, 96 
forced to yield, 97; his "Bowery 
House," picture, 98. 

Sugar-cane, picture, 236. 

Sumter (sum'ter), Thomas, his guerrilla 
warfare in South Carolina, 165. 

Supreme Court, how made up, 171. 

Swedes, settle in Delaware, 94; conquered 
by the Dutch, 94, 95. 

Tariff, protective, 238 ; reciprocity in, 
238 ; reduction of, 248. 

Taylor, General Zachary, his success in 
the Mexican War, 202 ; president, 203. 

Tea, tax imposed on, in the colonies, 137 ; 
Bent to America, 138 ; the Boston Tea- 
party, 138. 

Telegraph, invented, 199 ; picture of a 
sounder, 199. 



Texas (teks'as), frees herself from Mex- 
ico, 198 ; seal of, picture, 198 ; admitted 
to the Union, 199. 

Thomas, General, the Rock of Chicka- 
mauga, 221. 

Ticonderoga (ti-kon-de-ro'ga), Fort, cap- 
tured by Ethan Allen, 143 ; recaptured 
by Burgoyne, 158 ; location, 158 map. 

Tinder box, picture, 86. 

Tippecanoe (tip-e-ka-nob'), 197. 

Tobacco, picture of, 28; culture of, begim 
in Virginia by John Rolfe, 48 ; culture 
of, in Maryland, 107. 

Toronto (to-ron'to), burning of, 180. 

Town meeting, begun at Plymouth, 59 ; 
held in Boston, 66. 

Transportation in 1825, 189. 

Traveling, in America before the Revolu- 
tion, 132 ; in 1825, 189. 

Treasury Building, Washington, picture 
of, 234. 

Trent affair, the, 212. 

Trenton (tren'ton), N.J., location, 151 map; 
battle of, 152. 

Turks, cut off trade with the East, 3; 
John Smith and the, 45. 

Tyler (ti'ler), John, made vice-president, 
197 ; becomes president, 198. 

Underground Railroad, 204. 

Union Pacific Railroad finished, 232. 

Union soldier, picture, 210. 

Union soldiers sharing their rations with 
Confederates after Lee's surrender, pic- 
ture, 227. 

United States, declared free, 149 ; finan- 
cial troubles after the Revolution, 169 ; 
Hamilton's suggestions for the payment 
of debts of, 171 ; trouble with France, 
173; suppresses Barbary pirates, 174; 
buys Louisiana, 275 ; War of 1812, 176- 
181; westward growth, 183-196 ; troubles 
over slavery, 197-207 ; the Civil War, 
208-228 ; recent events in, 229-250. 

United States and its possessions, the, map, 
252. 

Valley Forge, location, 151 map ; win- 
ter at, 160. 



INDEX 



XV 



Van Buren (van bu'ren), Martin, events 
during- his presidency, 194-190. 

Vera Cruz (ve'ra krobz), 202 ; location, 
202 map ; held by United States, 249. 

Vespucius (ves-pu'shus), Americas (a- 
mer'i-kus), sails along- South America, 15. 

Vicksburg (viks'burg), location, 211 map ; 
capture of, 220. 

Vincennes (vin-senz'), captured by the 
Americans, 162. 

Virginia, derivation of name, 28 ; granted 
to Raleigh, 28, 29 ; taken over by the 
London and Plymouth companies, 12 ; 
colonists sent to, 43 ; "starving time " 

■> in, 48 ; culture of tobacco begun, 48 ; 
women sent to, 49 ; House of Burgesses, 
50 ; slavery introduced, 51 ; Bacon's re- 
bellion, 51 ; patriotic uprising, I'do, 139. 

Virginia Indian, picture of, 46. 

Wall Street, why so named, 92. 

Wampum (wam.'pum), 39 ; picture of, 40. 

War dance, picture of an Indian warrior's, 
41. 

War of 1812, causes of, 176; events of, 
177-181; close of, 181. 

Warship's gun-deck, picture, 176. 

Washington (wosh'ing-ton), George, sent 
to Fort Duquesne with a message, 123 ; 
his experience with Braddock, 124 ; 
made commander-in-chief of the Conti- 
nental Army, 143, 144 ; takes command 
of the army in Cambridge, 145 ; his 
cares, 146 ; urged to attack Boston, 147 ; 
drives the British from Boston, 148 ; 
refuses to receive a lettet not addressed 
to the commander-in-chief, 150 ', driven 
from New York, 151 ; crossing the Del- 
aware, picture, 152 ; beats the Hessians 
at Trenton, 152 ; eludes Cornwallis at 
Princeton, 154; winters at Morristown, 
154 ; portrait of, 153 ; accepts no salary, 
156; the "American Fabius," 157; con- 
spiracy against, 160; at the surrender of 
Cornwallis, 167 ; resigning commission, 
picture, 169 ; elected president, 171 ; 
inauguration of, picture, 171 ; dies, 174. 

Washington, city of, burned by the Brit- 
ish, 180 ; location, 216 map. 



Watling's (wot'lingz) Island, Columbus's 
supposed landing-place, 9, 10 ; location, 
9 map. 

Weapons the Indians used, 38. 

Webster, Daniel, opposes nullification, 
193; making his famous speech, picture, 
193 ; votes for the compromise of 1850, 
204. 

West Indies, map, 243. 

Wethersfield (weth'erz-f eld), Conn., found- 
ed, 79 ; location, 80 map. 

White, Peregrine, 56. 

Whitehall Street, New York, in 1673, pic- 
ture, 95. 

White House, picture, 229. 

Whitney, Eli, invents the cotton-gin, 173, 
173. 

" Wigwam Church," 106. 

Wilderness, battle of, 222. 

Willamette River, 201. 

Williams, Roger, driven out of Massachu- 
setts, 65 ; flees from Salem, 74 ; founds 
Providence, 75 ; statue of, picture, 76 ; 
character of, 77 ; prevents Canonicus 
from joining the Pequots, 80. 

Wilson, Woodrow, presidency of, 247-250. 

Windsor (win'zor), Conn., founded, 79; 
location, 80 inap. 

Winthrop (win'throp), John, comes to New 
England, 62, 63 ; arrival of his colony in 
Boston, picture, 63 ; his character, 64 ; 
cup given by, to the first church, pic- 
ture, 64 ; warns Roger Williams, 65, 74; 
goes to New York with Richard Nicolls, 
96. 

Witchcraft delusion in Massachusetts, 69. 

Wolfe (woolf), General, commands Eng- 
lish forces at Quebec, 126 ; killed, 127. 

Wolpi, pueblo of, picture, 34. 

Wool spinning wheel, picture, 87. 

Writs of Assistance, 134. 

Yale College, founded, 82 ; house where 
it was founded, picture, 82. 

York, Duke of, obtains New York, 97 ; 
gives New Jersey to Berkeley and Car- 
teret, 97. 

Yorktown, Va., location, 165 map; cap- 
ture of Cornwallis at. 16T. 



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